


Just Tell Me To Stop

by a_littlelessconversation



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Actor Kylo Ren, Blackmail, Dominant Kylo Ren, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Head of PR Rey, Kylo Needs to be Fixed, Kylo is an Arse, Mama Bear Leia, Office Sex, Rey is a Fixer, Sex, Stalking, Submissive Rey (Star Wars), finger fuck, rey is tough
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:42:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 47,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25101085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_littlelessconversation/pseuds/a_littlelessconversation
Summary: Rey Niima never imagined that when the CEO of Organa Industries approaches her to ask for help with a problem, that that problem would be the incredibly handsome and brooding actor, Kylo Ren.  Will she be able to keep her head in the game long enough to help? Or will Kylo Ren prove to be too much of a distraction?
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 79
Kudos: 88





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, 
> 
> After many years of reading fanfictions, I finally took the leap and wrote one of my own! 
> 
> Originally, this was meant to be a one-shot, however, I've gotten myself too into the story so it could be a multi-chapter if you fancy it.
> 
> Big thanks to my bestie @someonesbeenhere who inspired me to write a story of my own and for creating this amazing mood board. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it. It's a beast, so buckle in. I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys think...be kind! 
> 
> <3

Rey walked into her office building that morning feeling harassed. She had slept through her alarm and in her rush to shower and get ready, had clumsily tripped over her own feet and fallen into her dressing table, ripping her favourite pair of navy plaid trousers in the process. Her right side and arm ached as she stood in the elevator on the way up to her floor. She knew there would be a sizeable bruise there and tried her best to arrange the waistband of her pencil skirt so it wouldn’t aggravate the tenderness around her waist.

As the elevator doors opened, Rey was met with a cacophony of excited chatter. The whole floor seemed to be abuzz. There were small groups of colleagues sporadically huddled together around various cubicles, whispering animatedly to one another. Strange, thought Rey. The place seemed unusually upbeat for half eight on a Monday morning. Upon seeing her arrival, a few colleagues appeared to settle back into their cubicles, offering apologetic smiles, while others shamelessly stared towards the corridor past the conference room.

“Rey!” she looked up to see her good friend, and assistant, Rose, walking hurriedly towards her.

“Do you have any idea what’s got everyone so…” Rey trailed off, imitating her colleagues by flailing her hands in the air and emitting a high pitched ‘eee’, which earned a low chuckle from Rose.

“I’ve got a feeling you’re about to find out,” Rose replied, falling into step with Rey, smiling conspiratorily as she handed her a mug of tea.

Rey mumbled her thanks.

“Leia is in the conference room,” Rose told her, looking pointedly towards the open door of the conference room a few hundred yards away from them.

Rey followed her gaze. CEO of Organa Industries, Leia Organa, very rarely came to see Rey without an appointment and on those few rare occasions that she had, it had never been to congratulate her for a job well done. Her team had taken to calling their conference room, ‘the glass fortress’. It was a large, conspicuous looking room which was located on the left-hand side of the twentieth floor, all glass and sleek lines, with an idyllic view of the city. Made from incredibly thick glass partition walls and framed with thin black columns, it could soundproof even the most hostile of meetings. The door had a keycard system, and with one touch, the windows could blackout the entire office. It was both extravagant and modern. Rey and her team often dealt with highly-sensitive information in that room, and Organa Industries had spared no expense to create a private, yet inviting space for its prospective clients.

“That can’t be good,” she muttered upon seeing the heavily tinted partitions, the only possible line of sight was from the open door that lay waiting, Rey assumed, for her. Rey gulped her tea, trying to swallow down the anxiety that had started to creep up through her gut.

As they reached her office, Rey walked briskly over to her desk where she deposited her bag and mug. With a groan, she slid off her jacket slowly, wishing she had had the foresight to take some painkillers before she left her house that morning.

“Are you okay?” Rose asked, rushing over to help Rey with the rest of her coat.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I tripped this morning and hurt my side. Nothing serious, just a bit sore.” Rey grimaced as she managed to relieve her arm of her coat. “You don’t happen to know if we have any painkillers anywhere, do you?”

“There should be some in the first aid box, I’ll go get you some,” Rose said before hurrying out of Rey’s office.

Rey sat sheepishly in her chair, drinking tea and quickly brought up her emails to check that she hadn’t missed any emails from Leia alerting her to a last-minute meeting. No such luck. Rose reappeared a few minutes later.

“Painkillers for you, and,” she paused dramatically, producing a napkin wrapped chocolate chip cookie from behind her back, “this is for after you’ve emerged from the lion’s den,”

“Ugh, you are an angel,”

“I know,” Rose said smugly, breaking into a wide smile.

“Could you reschedule my meetings for today?” Rey asked distractedly, swallowing her painkillers and trying to focus on what she was about to walk in to. “I have a feeling that this is going to be a busy day,”

Rose nodded knowingly, an apprehensive look in her eye.

“If I’m not out of there in an hour, come rescue me,” Rey stood, bolstering herself.

“Have fun,” Rose laughed as she retreated out to her own desk.

Rey lifted her chin, rolled her shoulders back, took a steadying breath and tried to inject herself with a confidence that she didn’t have. She stalked out of her office and saw, thankfully, that her team seemed to have composed themselves enough to start their work for the day. She strode into the conference room, closing the door behind her before turning and locking eyes with her CEO.

“Leia,” she smiled at the older woman, who was already seated at the table. Rey tried to keep her voice light. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Leia smirked, looking at Rey over the thick black frames of her glasses. “I’m not here to reprimand you if that’s what you’re worried about,”

Rey must have visibly relaxed because Leia began to chuckle.

“I need your assistance,” Leia started. “I have a sensitive situation that I need...handled,”

Rey narrowed her eyes, tilting her head slightly as she took in her boss. Leia shifted uncomfortably under Rey’s scrutiny, which was something Rey never thought she would see. Leia was one of the most formidable women Rey had ever had the pleasure of working with, she had never shown any signs of weakness, but now, there was an uncertainty in her eye, a discomfort that worried Rey.

“What kind of situation?” Rey asked, taking the seat across from Leia, observing her. Leia pursed her lips, looking like she wasn’t sure where to begin.

Rey reached forward towards one of the intercom systems on the table and pressed down on the transmitter. “Rose,” Rey started, keeping her eyes focused on Leia. “Can you bring me in some tea, please?”

“You got it. Do you want any biscuits or snacks to go with it?”

Rey smiled slightly at that and raised a questioning eyebrow at Leia, who gave Rey a curt nod in response.

“Yes, that would be great. Thank you, Rose,” Rey sat back, and both women stared at each other in complete silence.

Leia sat forward, clasped her hands together, sitting them in front of her on the dark wooded table, her expression unreadable. “What do you know about Kylo Ren?”

Kylo Ren, as it happened, was an actor who in the last few years had rocketed into stardom thanks to his role in the epic space-opera movie series, Galaxy Wars. He had become known for his abrasive attitude towards paparazzi, his playboy ways and his rippling physique. In the last few months, his picture had been featured in all the gossip magazines, usually stumbling out of a bar with a strong arm wrapped around the waist of an incredibly attractive woman. It seemed to Rey that he was an exceedingly private person and the media had to settle for the snippets of him that they could get. Rey had never taken the clickbait articles regaling tales of his troubled past and dubious mental health at face value. Although, now that Leia had shown up, unannounced, asking for help with a sensitive matter that seemed to be connected to him, Rey began to reconsider.

The familiar sound of the door unlocking brought Rey back into the room, and she watched as Rose came in with a trolley of tea and a cake stand with an assortment of biscuits.

“Thank you, Rose,” Rey said as Rose sat the trolley next to her, gave Rey a small smile before making a hasty retreat out of the room. Rey waited until she heard the door lock behind her before speaking again.

“Kylo Ren, the actor from those Galaxy Wars movies?” Rey handed Leia a cup of tea and brought the stand of biscuits over to the table, before adding a spoonful of sugar to her cup and stirring it.

“The very same,” Leia lingered over her words, slowly bringing her cup to her lips. “What do you know about him?” she asked again.

“Not much,” Rey admitted. “Only what I’ve read in the papers,”

“Well, first of all, Kylo Ren is a stage name,” Leia put down her cup, adopting a matter-of-fact tone. “His real name is Ben Solo.”

“Solo? He’s your s-”

“-Son, yes. He started to go by Kylo Ren when he became serious about acting.” Leia explained. “He’s not nearly as big of an ass as the world likes to think he is,”

Rey was sceptical. “And second of all?”

“He’s being blackmailed,”

“Blackmailed?” Rey took a final sip of her tea, before settling it on the table, leaning towards Leia.

“Yes,”

“Blackmailed how?”

“He was sent some pictures…” Leia shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “...some...intimate pictures with a crudely written note threatening that if he doesn’t pay five-million dollars by the end of the month, those pictures will find their way into as many news outlets as possible,”

Rey noticed Leia’s thumbs absentmindedly fidgeting with one another. Vulnerability was not something Rey had ever seen in Leia. While it wouldn’t be evident to everyone, Rey always had the talent to read people and understand the importance of what they weren’t saying. It was a talent that had been useful in the past when wheedling out and exploiting a person’s greatest weakness. Kylo was Leia’s.

“It’s not the nature of the pictures that worries me. It’s when and where they were taken. He has been sent five photographs so far, and from what I can gather from Ben, they have been taken within the last year in places that only a handful of people knew he would be.” There was a wave of quiet anger in Leia, Rey could see it festering.

“What is it you want me to do here?” she asked, cautiously.

“My son is being stalked, Rey. I want you to find out who is doing it, why they’re doing it and then I want you to make it all disappear. As quickly, and as quietly as possible,”

“You’re not asking me as the Head of your PR,” Rey stated, suddenly understanding why Leia hadn’t wanted their meeting on the books. Leia wasn’t asking for her advice as a PR professional, she was asking for something Rey wasn’t sure she would be able to give her.

“No, Rey, I’m not,”

Before Rey began running the PR department in Organa Industries, she was a fixer. She had been sixteen and homeless when she started fixing other people’s messes for money. It had started small at first, a lie here, an alibi there, but it soon escalated to creating new identities, destroying evidence, hiding drugs and finding ways to make problematic people disappear. Rey had become so adept in her abilities that she had become the go-to fixer for the underbelly of Exegol at only twenty years old. However, in her naivety and her desperation to belong somewhere, to have a home, she found herself under the thumb of a redoubtable crime boss named Sheev Palpatine. It had been while she was on a job for Palpatine that she had been picked up by FBI Special Agent Luke Skywalker.

She had been terrified when he had flashed his badge and she had realised there was no escape for her, even more so when he had handcuffed her and deposited her into an interrogation room. He had left her to rot for two hours before he came in, offering her full immunity in exchange for everything and anything she knew about Palpatine and his organisation. Rey had been reluctant at first, knowing how vengeful and ruthless Palpatine could be, talking to the FBI was as good as signing her death sentence. But Luke had promised her that he could protect her, that he could get her a new identity and relocate her. He promised her that neither Palpatine nor his minions would ever get to her and he’d looked at her with such conviction that she had done something she hadn’t done in a long time, she had chosen to trust him.

The information that Rey gave Luke that day had been enough for him to put Palpatine and the majority of his associates away for a very long time. Back then, she had been Kira, an orphan, lost, chaotic, a mess. Luke gave her the opportunity to start fresh, to become someone else, and she had jumped eagerly at that chance. He got her a new identity, relocated her to Jakku and had even managed to get her a job at his sister’s technology firm. The day she started working at Organa Industries was the day she became Rey Niima. She hadn’t looked back since.

“Why did you come to me? Luke is more than capable of handling this,”

“Let’s just say,” she sighed, taking her glasses off and cleaning them with a handkerchief from her blazer pocket. “That Luke is not the right person for the job,” The pointed look that Leia planted on her, unsettled Rey.

Rey had insisted on complete honesty with Leia from the very beginning, much to Luke’s chagrin. After disclosing her sordid past in its entirety, Leia had surprised Rey by smirking at her and telling her that she would be perfect for her PR department. Leia had always known Rey’s truth, her real identity, her crimes, her trauma and had never once held it against her. Luke and Leia had given Rey a second chance at life, they had allowed her to use her special skills and her intellect for good, and as a result, Rey was living the life, that as a child, she could have only imagined. Rey had worked hard - harder than most - in her effort to prove to Leia that she had deserved this opportunity and had quickly moved up the ranks from office assistant to copywriter to public relations executive, until finally, eleven months ago, she had been promoted to Head of PR. She still found herself marvelling at the drastically unexpected turn her life had taken. Never once, in the six years she had worked at Organa Industries, had Leia asked or even referred to her days as a Fixer. Until today.

“Leia, I don’t do that anymore, you know that,”

“I was hoping…” Leia produced a black briefcase from the floor next to her and clicked open the locks before laying it on the table between them. “...I could convince you to make an exception.” Leia opened the briefcase and slid it round to Rey, revealing a large sum of money neatly tucked inside.

Upon seeing the contents of the briefcase, Rey stood abruptly, backing away from it.

“I’ve worked very hard to get where I am today. I don’t want to jeopardise it,”

“And I’m not asking you to, but I need someone I can trust. Someone who can be discreet and has experience working with...less than savoury characters.”

Rey turned her back to Leia, pinching the bridge of her nose trying to dispel the thoughts of Palpatine and his goons. It was an ugly world. One she had promised herself she would never return to.

“I’m not asking as your boss, Rey,” Leia cleared her throat as her voice started to break. “I’m asking as a mother who is worried about her son.”

Rey, touched by the emotion in Leia’s voice, blew out a hard breath. Sometimes she forgot that Leia was human, that she had a family and people she loved. Her boss, a woman she admired and looked up to, who Rey would forever be indebted to, was asking for her help. Why Rey ever thought she could turn her down was beyond her.

“If I’m going to do this, I’m going to need access to phone records, itineraries, fan mail, names of any potential enemies, everything,” she said, turning back to her.

Leia relief was palpable. “You’ll have access to anything you need, just say the word,”

“I take it Kylo is here already and is the reason my team turned into a gaggle of school girls this morning?”

Leia looking a little guilty, nodded. “Yes, he is hiding out in Hux’s office,”

“Well, better get him in here then,” she said, walking towards the door. “I’m going to need my laptop and some more tea,”

“Thank you, Rey,” Her voice was quiet but full of meaning.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she replied morosely, before leaving the conference room.

* * *

From the noise outside her office, she could tell that Kylo had reappeared. The pain in her right side matched the dull ache which was now residing in her head. She had never merged her two worlds like this before, and she was suddenly unsure of herself. Kira was lonely, and she did what she needed to survive. She was brash and impulsive, hotheaded and often at times, ruthless. But she was smart and meticulous in what she did. Rey, while still somewhat lonely, was driven. She had focused all of that chaotic energy into putting the past behind her and building this new life for herself.

The day Luke had stumbled upon her was the day she had softened. It was like she had taken a breath which had released those demons that had kept her anger and desperation right there at the surface. Rey wasn’t sure she had it in her to be Kira again. She had friends now, even considered Luke to be like family to her. She had a well-paying job that she loved, where she was respected and admired. She had bought herself a flat which she had turned into her own safe haven. She didn’t want to give any of that up, not one speck of it. But she was getting ahead of herself, she always did. There was something about coming from nothing that had made her paranoid that one day Rey would be taken away from her and she’d end up right back where she started.

There was a tentative knock on her office door.

“Come in,” she called. Rose popped her head around the door and offered her a small smile.

“How bad is it?”

“I’m not sure yet.” Rey took a big bite of her cookie as Rose sidled into the room, plopping herself down on the seat in front of Rey’s desk. “But what I do know, is that I’m gonna need another twenty of these to see me through,”

“I can arrange that,” Rose sniggered. She waited until Rey had finished her cookie before letting her know that they were ready for her in the conference room.

Rey deflated. She wasn’t ready for them. “Okay,” Rey groaned, stretching through the protestations of her side. She grabbed her laptop from her bag and headed to the conference room for the second time that morning.

The air was tense. Rey could feel it the moment she opened the door. Leia was sitting where Rey had left her, the briefcase back on the floor by her side.

Kylo Ren stood at the end of the large meeting table, his foreboding presence and stoic expression sent chills through her. He stood tall, all in black, his arms crossed, his eyes hard. He was striking in a way no picture could adequately capture.

“This is my son, Ben Solo,” Leia said, gesturing towards him. Kylo scoffed. “Aka Kylo Ren,” she clarified with an eye roll. “Ben, this is Miss Rey Niima, the woman I was telling you about,”

Rey walked over to him, outstretching a hand for him to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr Ren,” she said politely, suddenly unsure of how to address him.

Kylo looked at her hand with a mixture of suspicion and disdain. Instead of shaking it, he gave her a curt nod, keeping his arms firmly crossed over his chest. Rey took her hand back awkwardly, inwardly cringing as she walked back to the seat across from Leia and sat down, resting her laptop on the table in front of her. _What an ass_ , she thought grumpily.

“Can I get either of you a drink?” she asked, politely.

“Let’s just get this over with, shall we?” Kylo said, impatiently.

Leia snapped her head towards him, glaring at him, before turning back round to address Rey. “No. Thank you, Rey,”

Rey offered her a smile. “So,” turning herself towards Kylo, who stood statuesque at the end of the table. “Leia tells me you’re getting blackmailed,”

“Yes,”

“How are you being blackmailed?”

Kylo exhaled crossly. “Didn’t Leia already tell you that?”

“No, I was waiting until she agreed to help to discuss the particulars,” Leia answered for her. “Besides, I thought you’d rather tell her yourself,”

“I’d _rather_ not be here,”

“Ben!” Leia snapped crossly.

Kylo uncrossed his arms and pinched the bridge of his nose, before producing a brown envelope he had folded in his back pocket. He unfolded it and slid it along the table towards Rey. “I was sent an email last week, demanding that I pay five-million dollars by the end of the month or they would circulate some photographs,”

Rey noted the detached manner he spoke about the blackmail. Like he had somehow convinced himself that it wasn’t happening, or at least it wasn’t happening to him.

“I printed the photographs and a copy of the email. They’re in the envelope,”

Leia and Kylo watched as she took out the contents of the envelope. She read the email aloud.

> “FROM: always.watching1@gmail.com  
>  TO: kylo.ren57@gmail.com  
>  SUBJECT: Always watching...
> 
> I imagine you’ll find these photos incredibly interesting...
> 
> $5 million dollars by July 31st or else these will find their way onto screens everywhere.
> 
> I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon, Mr Ren.”

“Do you recognise this email address?”

“Do you _really_ think I’d be standing here if I knew who sent it?” He seethed.

“I didn’t ask if you knew who sent it,” Keeping her calm. “I asked if you recognised the email address. Always watching? No one has said that to you, like a fan or an enemy? You haven’t interacted with a username like that on any of your social media accounts?”

“Not that I’m aware of, no,” shaking his head, looking pensive.

“Okay,” Rey draws her attention to the photographs, flipping through them twice. They all showed Kylo Ren and a young blonde-haired woman in various stages of undress, practising BDSM. “Who is the woman in these photographs?”

“You don’t need to know her name,”

“Ben,” Leia chastised. “You need to cooperate with Rey and tell her who she is,”

“No! She has nothing to do with this!” Kylo exclaimed. “ _I’m_ the one who is being blackmailed,”

“When it comes to blackmailing cases, eight times out of ten, it is by someone you know. I need to talk to her to be confident that she didn’t have anything to do with this, inadvertently or not,” Rey reasoned.

“Kaydel wouldn’t tell anyone. There’s a certain level of trust that’s needed when you do those things and-”

“I understand the inner workings of a dominant/submissive relationship, Mr Ren.” Rey interrupted. “Which is why I’m going to ask whether you had her sign a non-disclosure agreement, or had a clause in your contract?”

“No,” he admitted, his gaze shifting self-consciously towards Leia.

“So, she _could_ have told someone about your arrangement-”

“She wouldn’t tell anyone,”

“But she could have if she wanted to,”

“Yes,” he relented, his eyes throwing daggers Rey’s way.

“Okay, then I’m going to have to talk to her. Just like I’m going to have to talk to anyone who knew about your arrangement or anyone who knew you visited that hotel on the dates these photographs were taken,” Rey explained. “And besides, I can figure out her name with or without your help,”

“This is ridiculous!” he scathed. “I don’t need you shoving your nose in my personal life. I don’t need the help of a wannabe PI with a superiority complex. I was handling it!”

Kylo seemed downright cantankerous, and Rey couldn’t understand why. Yes, he was getting blackmailed, but she was trying to help him, why was he focusing his temper towards her?

“Handling it?!” Leia bellowed. “You are being stalked, Ben. And blackmailed. Ignoring it isn’t handling it!”

Kylo exhaled heavily, his hands in fists by his side.

“You listen here, Ben Solo.” Leia stood, pointing her finger angrily at him. “You will cooperate with Rey. You will give her the name of the woman in those photos, and you will tell her everything she needs to know. You’ll give her itineraries, fanmail, hotel bookings. You will give her the names and addresses of your friends and associates. Hell, you’ll give her the name of your dentist if she asks for it,”

There was a venom in Leia’s voice that almost made Rey feel sorry for Kylo. Almost.

“And you’ll do it without complaint. Do you hear me?”

Kylo remained quiet, although looked dispirited.

“If not for yourself, do it to placate your parents, who are worried sick about what could happen to you,” Leia sat back down looking emotional.

Rey watched as Kylo gave Leia a small nod. Relief spread through her, although it was nothing compared to what she assumed Leia felt in that moment. Anxiety hung heavy in the air, and Rey decided the best way to disperse it was to get back to the task at hand.

“Are these the only photographs?” Rey asked, her eyes quickly scanning over the five images in her hand.

“I didn’t make copies, if that’s what you mean,” Kylo retorted flatly.

Rey narrowed her eyes at him.

“Ben,” Leia chided.

Kylo let out an exasperated breath. “Yes, those are the only ones,”

“And you got these-”

“By email, I already told you that,”

“Your personal or professional email?” Rey asked inquisitively, ignoring the coldness in his voice. She honed in on the photographs, looking at them one by one, each more sexually intimate than the last. She placed them down in front of her, painfully aware that the main subject, and his mother, were in the room with her. This wasn’t the first time she had had to cover up sexual exploits, it was, however, the first time someone’s mother had been the one to ask her to.

“Kylo Ren’s personal email,”

“I’m going to need to see that email,”

“Why? I’ve given you the photographs, the note, the address it was sent from, isn’t that enough?” Kylo’s irritability only exceeded in resolving Rey to treat him with cold indifference.

“They sent you digital files. Those pictures could hold information that could be key to finding out who is behind this,” Rey watched him. She could see the cogs in his head turning as he thought about this. “Unless you don’t want to figure out who did this?”

“Of course, I want to find out who did this!” Kylo snapped, his voice raised.

Leia made to speak, but Rey lifted a hand to silence her.

“Really?” Rey challenged. “Because you have been nothing but reluctant since I walked in here. You’re withholding information, being uncooperative. I’m good at my job, Mr Ren. I’d appreciate it if you’d let me do it,”

There was a tense silence between them. Rey and Kylo stared intently at one another, both searching for something, both looking for answers to questions they hadn’t asked. Why was he resisting her help? What was he hiding? _Trust me_ , she thought imploringly. From her periphery, she could see Leia turning her head back-and-forth between them, like a tennis volley that had no obvious conclusion.

Kylo had an unreadable expression on his face and only moved when a lock of his hair fell in front of his eyes. After a moment or so, it seemed he had found what he had been looking for in her eyes because with a heavy sigh, he relinquished. “Fine. You’ll get the email,”

“And?” Rey quirked an eyebrow at him expectantly.

“And... anything else you need,”

Rey let out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding. “Great,” she mused. Turning to see a relieved Leia in the chair across from her. It had been a trying morning, for all of them, and Rey decided it was time to wrap it up. She gathered up the photographs and email and bundled them back into the envelope.

“Now, I think for the purposes of discretion, while on the phone and by email, we refer to you as Ben Solo,” Rey could see his face morphing into a menacing smirk. He was still looking for any excuse to call her incompetent, to walk out of there, refusing her help, even after agreeing to cooperate. She sure as hell wouldn’t give him one. “I trust my team implicitly, Mr Ren, but considering your celebrity status, I would rather not tempt fate,”

“Fine,” Kylo huffed.

Leia and Rey shared a glance. His attitude and reluctance to get any help was starting to grate on her. If it weren’t for Leia’s sake, she would have thrown him out of her office ages ago and bitterly wished him good luck. But Leia _had_ come to her, and whether she liked Kylo or not, she would figure this out. Whether she or Kylo would both be unscathed by the end of this, she wasn’t sure.

“Okay. Well, I won’t keep you any longer,” Rey said, standing up, motioning for them to do the same. “I’m sure you have _lots of important_ things to be doing,” her voice was laced with obvious disdain, but she plastered a sweet smile onto her face, feigning professionalism.

Rey led them out of the conference room, Leia squeezing her hand on her way out, a thank you in her eye and promised to send everything Rey had asked for, that evening. Kylo strode out, barely sparing Rey a cursory glance. She had to stop herself from calling out a sarcastic ‘You’re welcome’ to his back as he stalked towards the elevator.

“I thought you said he wasn’t an ass,”

Leia simpered. “I said he wasn’t as _big_ of an ass, not that he wasn’t one.”

Rey looked at her affectionately, the humour in Leia’s eyes helping displace the irritation that had been steadily growing since Kylo’s appearance.

“He won’t say as much,” Leia started, smoothing down her jacket. “But he’s worried. He wouldn’t have come to me if he wasn’t.” And with that, she left Rey standing at the doorway of the conference room to join her son, who was pacing back-and-forth agitatedly in front of the elevator doors.

“God, he is so hot,” Rose had rejoined Rey, her voice wistful.

“Yeah, he is,” Rey agreed. “I just wish his personality was as attractive as he is,”

* * *

Sitting back in her office, another cookie demolished, Leia’s briefcase next to her, Rey looked at notes she had typed up from that morning and wondered where she should start.

“Knock, knock,” Poe Dameron, one of the company's best market research analysts, sauntered into her office, a smug smile plastered on his face. That man could charm the pants off of just about anyone and worst of all, he knew it.

“You know you’re actually meant to knock the door and wait, not just barge in,”

“I was just too darn excited to see you,”

Rey rolled her eyes at him.

“Someone is grumpy today. I’m going to assume it has something to do with the unexpected visit from our fearless leader,” Poe walked over and perched himself on the edge of her desk.

Rey quickly closed her laptop to stop Poe’s wandering eyes from seeing something he shouldn’t. “That’s definitely got something to do with it,”

“What’s going on?” Poe asked, sobering slightly.

“I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to, Dameron,”

Poe gasped dramatically, clutching onto his chest with both hands as if Rey had just stabbed him. “That hurts, Niima. You know I’m like a vault,”

It was true, he was. Poe, for all his mischief and bravado, was fiercely loyal. He had had her back since day one, and although he had spent the first few months of their friendship trying to get into her pants, he had shown Rey his hand on several occasions. Poe was a good guy, and she knew she could trust him one-hundred per cent. He had shown her what it was to have a friend, and while he could be annoying as hell, she was grateful he had swaggered into her life.

“I’m doing a favour for Leia,” She disclosed.

“An off-the-books favour?”

Rey nodded. “I can’t say anything more about it until I know exactly what is going on,”

“Okay,” Poe nodded slowly, seeming to accept her inability to divulge anything further. “You know I’m here if you need any help,”

“I know,” Rey said warmly. “I have a feeling I might need it,”

Poe watched her with quizzical eyes. He was itching to know what was going on; she could see it in the way his leg was bouncing restlessly against the desk. But Poe wouldn’t ask again, he wouldn’t force her, Rey was confident about that.

“Ready for lunch?”

Rey scrunched up her face, ruefully.

“Rey,” Poe whined. “It’s meatball sub day,”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’ve got so much to do and only a small window to do it in. I’ll make it up to you,”

Poe stood feigning indignance. “You bet your ass you will.” He reversed himself towards her office door. “With beer. Lots and lots of beer,”

* * *

It wasn’t until half-three that afternoon that Rey had had a chance to return to Kylo’s blackmail case. Though she had Rose reschedule her meetings for the day, Organa Industries were getting ready to launch new technology which had the potential to see them as the leading company in renewable energy. Rey had found herself swamped writing and scheduling press releases, helping create social media campaigns and liaising with marketing. Work had been the distraction that she had needed to dissipate the anger and stress from the morning, and now, all she wanted to do was look at those photographs with fresh eyes.

Rey turned the envelope in her hand. Round and round, readying herself for what lay inside. Tentatively, she took out the photographs and lay them all out on her desk. She allowed herself to take her time, to let her eyes roam over every detail, every pixel. With Leia and Kylo in the room, she had had to treat those pictures with cool detachment, barely sparing them a second glance, but now, in the privacy of her office, she could appreciate them. She could appreciate the muscles that lined Kylo’s back as he spanked Kaydel’s bare ass. She could appreciate how tenderly and agonizingly he teased a blindfolded and restrained Kaydel with a feather tickler. She could appreciate the intensity that marred his features as his hands were wrapped around her braids, fucking her face. She could appreciate the primal grunts, she imagined, were escaping his lips as he pumped bruisingly into Kaydel, who was collared and bent over the end of a table. She could appreciate his meaty thighs and his muscular physique. She could appreciate it all so much that she could feel her arousal dampening her underwear. What she wouldn’t give to hear him moaning right now, to be bent over that table and feel him come undone inside of her. _Stop it, Rey_.

She lifted the fifth picture, and the longer she stared at it, the hotter she became. Kylo had a naked Kaydel pinned up against a wall and he was fingering her, his lips a hair's width away from her ear. Rey found herself wondering what he was whispering to her. Was he encouraging her? Berating her? Whispering all of the dirty things he wanted to do to her? She had a compulsion, a need, to find out. She was sure her imagination wouldn’t do him justice.

A throat cleared and Rey startled. The man himself was standing mere steps away from her desk.

“Am I interrupting?”

“No,” Rey cast her eyes downward and pulled at her top self-consciously, hoping her arousal wasn’t obvious. “I was just taking a look at the photos again. I’m hoping to find something that points me to where they are taking the photos from,” _There_ , she thought. _That sounded plausible_.

“And have you found anything?” Kylo’s low voice sent a shiver through her.

“Nothing concrete,” Rey said warily, becoming nervous as he began to amble around the desk towards her.

He took the photograph from her hand and looked up at her with darkened eyes. “Is this your favourite?”

Rey’s breath hitched. “What?” How long had he stood there watching her devour those photographs? _Keep it professional, Rey_. She admonished herself. She took a step back from him, but he followed with her. There was something in the way he was looking down at her, like a predator who had just found its prey. The air around them grew thick, heavy with tension - it was suffocating.

Kylo held the photo up. “Do you want me to do this to you, Rey?”

Rey swallowed. She did, she really did, but he didn’t need to know that. She bit her bottom lip, stopping herself from saying anything that she shouldn’t. He took in a sharp breath, slamming the photo down onto her desk, backing her further and further towards the wall.

The photograph had acted like a barrier between them, as long as it was there, they couldn’t cross a line. Now that it wasn’t, Rey knew that soon she wouldn’t have the will - or the inclination - to turn him down. She wanted him. And from the hunger in his eyes, she could tell he wanted her too. _He is a client, Rey_. She reluctantly reminded herself. _And he is Leia’s son_. “Kylo…” Rey put her hands out in front of her, placing them cautiously on his chest, stopping him from getting any closer. “...we shouldn’t,” she said weakly.

In seconds, Kylo had grabbed her wrists and pinned her up against the wall. “I didn’t ask if we _should_. I asked,” he paused, bringing his face close to hers. “If you _wanted_ me to do that to you,”

Rey opened her mouth to reply, but she found that she didn’t know what to say. Her throat was so dry, even if she could summon the words, she was sure nothing would come out. Rey found her eyes roaming over his body, from his dark eyes to his strong nose, to his soft lips, to his broad shoulders. She couldn’t help herself. He was an incredibly attractive man, no more so than right now, as he pinned her against the wall, his dark eyes boring down on hers, waiting for permission to devour her.

“Well?” Kylo asked, impatiently.

Rey pushed away the list her head was concocting of all the reasons why she shouldn’t and instead listened to her body and the way it was craving him. She nodded timidly. Kylo smirked at her smugly and brought his lips down to capture hers in a bruising kiss. When he parted from her, their breaths were heavy, and Kylo’s eyes were almost black. He extended her arms and crossed her wrists together so he could hold them both in one of his hands and adjusted himself, so he was flush against her right side. Kylo gave her a chaste kiss to the corner of her lips, her cheek, her jaw and Rey closed her eyes, revelling in the feel of his lips on her skin. As he kissed along her jawline, and down her neck, he found the sensitive spot just below her earlobe and a gasp escaped Rey at the contact. She tilted her head to allow him better access and Kylo exploited her pleasure by nibbling and sucking that spot until Rey squirmed against him.

“Do you like that?”

“Yes,” she hissed.

Kylo began to run his fingers down her side, lingering at the swell of her breast and the curve of her rear. “I am going to ruin you,” he whispered into her ear.

A tingling ran down the nape of her neck, her body trembling in anticipation. Kylo brought his fingers up to her chest, poking them through the fabric between her buttons to trace circles on her breasts.

“Keep those there,” he commanded, releasing her wrists and in one quick motion ripped open the front of her shirt, popped buttons bounced on the floor by her feet. Surprised, she began to bring down her arms, but one stern look from Kylo, saw her put them firmly back in their place. Kylo brought her breasts out from beneath the cups of her bra. “They’re beautiful,” he remarked as he circled her nipples. He kissed the sensitive spot on her neck again before kissing down her breastbone and took her left nipple into his mouth. Rey inhaled sharply as his tongue sent her nerve endings on fire. He licked and sucked at them, but it was when he nibbled her erect nipple that she arched herself into him. She could feel him smiling. He loved the effect he was having on her. So did she.

Her sex throbbed and writhed for him. Sensing her discomfort, Kylo stood and yanked her skirt up around her waist. Rey silently congratulated herself for deciding to wear her good, pale pink, lacy underwear that morning. The admiration in his eyes as he gazed down at her, stopped her from remembering to feel self-conscious at being so exposed. She felt wanted, she felt alluring, she felt hot. And that was all down to him.

Kylo’s hands trailed seductively up her thighs, sending shivers through her. He played with the hem of her briefs before pulling them down a little until they fell from her legs. Kylo looked at her and Rey sensed him wordlessly asking her to step out of them. As she did, Kylo bent down to retrieve them, planting sloppy kisses up her thighs as he straightened back up.

“These are mine now,” Kylo growled as he brought her pale pink underwear up to his face, smelling them possessively, before pocketing them. His large hand quickly found its way to her throbbing pussy, running a finger up and down her slit. “You’re so wet for me, Rey,”

Rey whimpered as Kylo’s thumb grazed her clit. He pushed a finger into her and she gasped, intoxicated at the invasion. He glided in and out of her a few times before adding in another. His long fingers felt so good inside of her that she moaned in protest when he removed them.

He brought his fingers up to his nose, sniffing them. “You smell so good,” he remarked appreciatively. He scanned up and down her body as he sucked on his fingers, groaning as he did. “You taste good too. I knew you would,”

She watched him intently, wishing she was the one who was sucking on his fingers.

“Do you want to taste?”

With a gulp, she nodded eagerly.

Kylo pushed two of his fingers into her mouth. “Suck,” he instructed.

She did as she was told, sucking her juices from his fingers, her eyes locked onto his. At that moment, she knew he could order her to do just about anything and she would comply willingly.

Kylo pulled his fingers from her mouth and used his thumb to wipe away the saliva from her bottom lip. His hunger was palpable and she wondered if hers was too. He drove his fingers into her, moving with vigour.

Rey exhaled heavily, pleasure coiling up inside of her.

Kylo crouched down, placing a steadying hand on her stomach, while he slid a third finger inside of her. She groaned as she stretched around his fingers. They curved into her, slowly at first, giving her time to adjust, then quickening their speed. She balanced a foot on a low shelf to provide him with a better angle, allowing his fingers to get deeper inside of her.

“Come for me, Rey,” Kylo pumped his fingers into her at a punishing speed, while his other thumb circled her clit.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” she chanted breathlessly. She could barely contain herself, the pressure inside of her was building, racing towards a climax, as he continued finger fucking her. Her vision began to blur as she started to become lightheaded, her pulse pounding in her ears.

Kylo eased his pace and surprised her by sucking hard on her clitoris. It was too much. Her body felt like it was on fire. As his tongue lapped at her sex, and his fingers continued to pump into her, she knew she couldn’t hold on anymore. She had to let go.

“I’m going to come,” she panted.

Kylo pinned his free arm over her stomach, steadying her as she came around his fingers.

“Fuck!” she cried, throwing her head back against the wall in pure euphoria.

Rey could barely stand, her legs spasmed beneath her as she rode her orgasm. Kylo pulled out his fingers and released her, watching her with a look full of desire. He unbuckled his belt and pulled it out from his jeans, holding it out in front of him.

“Hands,” he commanded. Rey, still panting, brought her arms, now numb, down in front of her and he wrapped his belt around her wrists. He left her standing there, her breasts hanging out of her ripped shirt, her skirt pushed up around her waist, wrists bound, naked from the waist down, as he waltzed over to her desk. He placed her laptop safely onto her chair before he swept the rest of the contents onto the floor and beckoned her over to him. Rey walked over and as she got close enough, Kylo tugged her the rest of the way by the belt around her wrists. He pulled her in for a deep, frantic kiss, before bending her over the edge of her desk, arranging himself so she could feel his arousal digging into her bare ass. She could feel him pull down his trousers and could feel her excitement grow as she felt him tap his cock against her backside.

“Are you ready for me, Rey?”

The way Kylo’s husky voice drew out her name drove Rey wild. She could feel him running his tip up and down her slit, teasing her. He loved to tease, that much had been clear. And Rey had found she loved to be teased by him. He slid his tip into her, before removing it again. Rey couldn’t handle it. Her pussy was aching for him. She needed to feel him inside of her. All of him. He slid his tip in again, slower this time and she could feel herself clench around him, her vagina trying to swallow more of him, but he pulled out of her before she had the chance.

“I said,” Kylo grunted, caressing her right butt cheek tenderly, before spanking it hard. “Are you ready for me?”

“Mmmm,” she groaned as her ass stung, pleasure spreading throughout her. “Yes, I’m ready,”

“Rey?” Kylo’s voice had become lighter, higher pitched. Feminine. Rey’s eyebrows furrowed as she tried to make sense of what was happening. She couldn’t feel him standing behind her, couldn’t feel his cock teasing her or the edge of the desk digging into her torso.

“Earth to Rey!”

“Jesus,” Rey jumped, suddenly disorientated. She was at her desk. She was sitting at her desk, and Kylo was nowhere to be found. Everything had been how it was, the contents of her desk hadn’t been swept onto the floor, her underwear was still firmly on, the buttons of her shirt still fastened and the fifth picture still in her hand. She swallowed, coming to the stark realisation she hadn’t just been finger fucked against her wall and then bent over her desk. It all been in her head. A dream. A fantasy.

 _Ho-ly shit_.

“There’s a Mr Solo on line one,” Rose informed her, waving her phone handset at her from the doorway of Rey’s office, looking concerned.

“Right, yeah. Sure,” her mind plummeted back to reality, but her body was having a hard time acclimatising. “Thanks,”

Rey could feel the ache between her thighs pulsating, demanding attention. She took a second to compose herself before picking up the phone.

“Mr Solo, what can I do for you?” _That sounded almost natural_ , she thought proudly to herself. Maybe it wasn’t him that had had that effect on her, perhaps it was just the context of the photographs or how long it had been since she had engaged in any extracurricular activities.

“We need to talk,” his voice was gruff, sounding just as impatient as he had that morning in the conference room.

“Okay,”

“Not on the phone,” he said brusquely. Then, as though catching himself, said a little softer, “Would you be able to meet me tomorrow?”

“I have meetings in the morning. I could meet you after lunch, say, two o’clock?”

“Great. I’ll send over details of where I’m staying. Bring your laptop and Rey?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t tell my mother,” there was a hint of humour in his voice, though she imagined him saying it with an expressionless face.

Rey chuckled to herself. “Shockingly, I don’t need to inform Leia of every single thing I do on a day-to-day basis. She’s not _my_ Mum,”

“Tomorrow, then?” He replied after a moment’s pause, all traces of humour gone.

“Yes, tomorrow,”

“I’ll see you then, _Miss Niima_ ,”

 _Well, that settles it_ , she thought begrudgingly to herself. _It wasn’t just the photographs_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “All clear,” she stated proudly. Rey retrieved her bag and joined Kylo on the couch. 
> 
> “No bugs, no cameras,” Kylo took a long swig of his beer. “What are you gonna check for next? Bombs?” He huffed out a snort. 
> 
> “If someone’s trying to blow you up, you're on your own,” she smirked wickedly at him, setting up her laptop on the coffee table in front of them. “This is for you,” Rey said, bringing a phone out of a zipped compartment in her bag and handing it to him.
> 
> “A phone? I already have one of those,”
> 
> “It’s a burner phone. I’ve got one too. I think it’s best if we use these to get in contact with one another about the case. I don’t want us to leave a trail in case your blackmailer is keeping a closer eye on you than either of us are aware of. I’ve programmed my number in there already, so-”
> 
> “Is this really necessary?” Kylo snapped as he stood, slamming his beer on the table. He towered over Rey, angry eyes burning a hole through her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been completely overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter of this story. This is the first piece of my writing I've ever let anyone read, so I was incredibly nervous to post it. You beautiful people have left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, and inspired me to keep writing. Thank you. 
> 
> An extra special thank you to everyone who took the time to leave kudos, comment, subscribe and bookmark. I'm sending love and a lopsided grin your way.
> 
> I foresee this story having around ten chapters, although, that number could very well change. I plan to update every week or every couple of weeks. I'm back at work now, so I won't commit to a specific day, but I'll try not to leave you hanging too long. 
> 
> I did plan on having this chapter posted sooner, but I hit a proverbial wall halfway through writing. I went onto TikTok to watch videos of Adam Driver in my attempts to smash through it but found myself falling into an Adam Driver/Kylo Ren/Ben Solo/Adam Sackler rabbit hole and lost many more hours than I'll ever admit to. Word to the wise, if you ever want to get anything done, don't watch Adam Driver videos! 
> 
> Shoutout to my best friend and beta @someonesbeenhere. 
> 
> Enjoy <3

Rey was tired. She had tossed and turned for hours and had barely slept. Her mind had poured over the events of the day, replaying her conversation with Leia, her first meeting with Kylo, the blackmail photographs, the email and the intense daydream in her office. They were all edited and intermixed together, warping into a montage that played on an incessant loop.   
  
When Rey had finally managed to settle down, it seemed that her subconscious wasn’t finished with her. She had dreamt of Kylo. Dreamt of being alone in a room with him. Dreamt of him letting down his walls and talking to her, really talking to her. She had dreamt of stolen glances and lingering touches, and then she dreamt of him fucking her into oblivion. It was a dream so intense and so realistic, that when she woke, caked in sweat to an empty bed, she was confused, downtrodden. Disappointed.

Rey couldn’t make sense of it at all. She had had two incredibly vivid, not to mention entirely satisfying, sexual fantasies about a man she could barely stand - and who could barely stand her - all within twenty-four hours of meeting him. Yes, he was attractive to an otherworldly degree. And yes, his low husk of a voice sent shockwaves straight to her vagina. But she had never experienced this raw sexual magnetism before. Never found herself losing time to audacious fantasies. Never wanted someone as much as she wanted him right now. 

But it was all in her head. The Kylo in her reality, wasn’t the same man as the Kylo of her fantasies. Rey needed to remember that, to carve it onto her forehead. She needed to be professional. Objective. She needed to stop thinking of the way his plush lips would press into a thin line as he drew in a deep, exasperated breath. _Goddammit, Rey._ She dropped her head to lean on her hands, blaming her exhaustion for her lack of self-control. 

“You look like shit,” Poe said as he sauntered into her office, two coffee cups in his hand.

“Good morning to you too, Poe,” Rey replied, a yawn cutting through her irritability. 

“Rough night?” 

Rey peered up at him through the gaps between her fingers. “I didn’t get much sleep,” she admitted. 

“It’s just as well I am an angel and brought you this,” Poe placed one of the coffee cups on the desk in front of her. 

Rey sat up, grabbing the cup with both hands. She took a quick sip and relished the feel of its warmth radiating throughout her. 

“Meeting is in ten, guys,” Rose had appeared in the doorway of Rey’s office, holding a cup of her own. 

Rey groaned at the thought. 

“You know,” Poe mused, tilting his head as he assessed Rey. “I take back what I said earlier. You look really good. Like _really_ good.” Surprise laced his voice, which rubbed Rey the wrong way. “Did you curl your hair?” 

Rey could see Rose’s eyes glimmer with mischief from the doorway and sent her a warning glare. 

“Have you seen the dress yet?” Rose asked Poe, looking far too amused for Rey’s liking. 

Rey cursed inwardly. She stood, grasping tightly at her coffee, wishing she was anywhere but here.

Poe whipped round to Rose. “What dress?” When Rose’s only response was an impish chuckle, he whipped back round to Rey. “What dress?” 

Rey made her way around her desk, checking that the buttons of her long, woollen jacket were firmly secured before heading to the door. Rose stood blocking the doorway, hiding sniggers behind her mug, while Poe looked at her like a child desperate to be let in on a secret. Rey ignored them both. 

“Come on, Poe.” She said dismissively. “We have a meeting to get to,”

Rey hit Rose with as stern a look as she could muster, and Rose moved aside to let her past, no hint of an apology in her eye. 

“What dress?” Poe whined as he followed her to the conference room.

* * *

“Thanks again everyone, and as always, my door is open if you have any problems,” Rey stood at the conference room door, chatting amiably as she saw her colleagues out. The meeting had gone well, her team had done her proud, and she was confident Leia would be happy with their plans for the upcoming press releases. Poe lingered with her, plastering a fake smile on his face as Armitage Hux approached them. 

“Leia will need those projections on her desk by the end of the day, Dameron,” Hux trilled imperiously, a haughty air encompassing him.

“And she’ll get them, _Hux_.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Rey,” Hux cocked an eyebrow at her lecherously.

Rey cleared her throat. “See you tomorrow.”

Poe’s smile turned venomous as Hux walked past them and made his way towards the elevator. 

“ _Leia will need those projections on her desk by the end of the day, Dameron,”_ Poe imitated crudely, his impression of Hux sounding more like a muppet than a person. 

Rey had to stop herself from laughing.

“God, I hate that guy,” he affirmed.

“I know he can be a smarmy bastard at times, but he is good at his job,” Rey reasoned. They walked into her office, waving hello to Rose as they passed her. 

“Where does he get off thinking he’s better than everyone else when _technically_ , he’s only an assistant,” Poe seethed, dropping into the chair at Rey’s desk. 

“An assistant to the CEO...” Rey replied pointedly, filing away her notes from the meeting in a folder on her desk.

“Still,” Poe said petulantly, folding his arms over his chest. 

“I know what will cheer you up,” Rey started, hoping to diminish Poe’s lousy mood with two words. “Chilli nachos,”

Poe’s face lit up immediately. 

They had ambled down to the Mexican around the corner from their office building and then, armed with chilli nachos, sat on their favourite bench in a park ten minutes away, demolishing their lunch in gleeful silence. 

“So,” Poe began with slight hesitation, wiping chilli residue from the corner of his mouth. “Have you got yourself a hot date tonight?” 

Rey turned her head round to Poe and tried to keep her expression neutral. “You know, you’re the second person to ask me that today,” 

This morning, when she had gotten out of the elevator, Rose had openly gaped as Rey walked towards her. She could hardly contain her excitement and had barely waited two minutes before she bounced into Rey’s office and began her interrogation with the exact same question.

“Well,” He asked, watching her expectantly. “Have you?”

“No,” Rey replied flatly. “I do not have a _hot date_ tonight,” 

Poe looked dubious. “Really?”

“Can’t a girl take pride in her appearance and try something new?” Rey huffed defensively. Rose hadn’t accepted this justification, and Rey was willing to bet Poe would be just as sceptical. 

“ _That_ is not a trying-something-new dress,” Poe informed her, a knowing look in his eye and an exclamation in his voice. “ _That_ ’s an I’m-trying-to-seduce-someone dress if ever I saw one,” He sat back on the bench, raising his eyebrows at her challengingly. She knew Poe wanted her to deny it, and aggravatingly, Rey knew he thought that she wouldn’t be able to.

Rey pulled her jacket around herself, self-consciously. While she hated to admit it, she _had_ made much more of an effort when getting ready for work that morning. She had pulled out an outfit from her wardrobe that she hadn’t worn in years, curled her hair and had even taken extra care with her makeup. The dress in question was black and figure-hugging, with a deep-v neckline that sat just below her breast bone, showing more cleavage than was strictly suitable for work. With her curled hair resting against her collarbone and her simple black heels, it had seemed like a good idea this morning. Although, Rey distinctly remembered the way her colleagues’ eyes had bulged in surprise as she removed her jacket partway through this afternoon’s meeting. Maybe there was a little truth to Poe’s words.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Poe continued, a mischievousness in his voice. “But you don’t need to go to all that effort. You know if you want to seduce me, all you need to do is hit me with one of those smiles of yours,” He wagged his eyebrows at her, a seductive smirk playing on his lips.

Rey shook her head at him, grinning despite herself. 

“There it is,” he triumphed, hitting her with a wide, toothy smile. 

Rey elbowed him hard in the ribs, eliciting a loud, dramatic groan from Poe. 

“And this is what I get for trying to make you smile,” he said, rubbing his ribs and sounding slightly winded, but Rey couldn’t bring herself to feel the slightest bit sorry. 

Rey stifled a laugh, turning her head to a flock of pigeons huddled together a little aways from them. An old couple sat on a bench in front of the birds, arms looped together, smiles deepening the creases around their eyes, throwing chunks of wholemeal bread towards the plump creatures. They looked so happy in their silence, and it made Rey’s chest ache. She began to wonder if her parents had been alive, and if she had known them, would they be that content? Would they be sitting on a bench, feeding birds, basking in their life? Would they be proud of the woman she had become? Would they love her? Would they want her?

“So there _really_ isn’t a guy?” Poe asked speculatively, breaking Rey’s reverie. 

“Nope,” she replied, pensive, distracted. Her eyes fixed on the couple. _Only in my dreams,_ she thought sardonically to herself.

“There should be,” he replied earnestly, squeezing her hand with his. 

When she turned to him, she could see the concern in his eyes, a seriousness that hadn’t been there before. Poe always seemed to know when there was something wrong, when her mind had wandered to a place she tried incessantly to avoid. In those rare moments it did, and when Poe was there to notice, he would give Rey’s hand a gentle squeeze to bring her back to the present. It was a gesture that Rey treasured, just like Poe’s friendship. 

Rey swallowed down tears that threatened to sting her eyes and gave Poe a weak smile. “You’re telling me,” she said with an energy she didn’t have. “Right,” standing, wiping nacho dust from her burgundy jacket. “We should head back,”

“Five more minutes,” Poe cried. 

“No more minutes,” Rey replied firmly. “I have a meeting in an hour,” 

“Spoilsport,” Poe muttered under his breath, pouring his remaining nacho crumbs into his mouth before reluctantly following suit.  
  


* * *

Rey glanced back at the text Kylo had sent her, checking the room number as she made a beeline for the elevator in the lobby of The Falcon Hotel.

 **Ben:** _Meet me at The Falcon Hotel. Room 1515. Top Floor. Knock 3 times, so I know it’s you._

 _Just as lovely and curt by text as in person_ , Rey grimaced to herself. She pressed the button for the fifteenth floor and tried her best not to look at her reflection in the mirrored walls of the elevator bus. Since talking to Poe at lunch, Rey had to concede that maybe, just maybe, she had made all that effort in her appearance this morning because of the man she was meeting at a fancy hotel later that day. In her car, she had scraped up her shoulder-length, brown curls into a high bun and swapped her burgundy, woollen coat for her beloved, leather biker jacket in a bid to dress down her black, skin-tight dress before entering the hotel. Rey fumbled with the neckline self-consciously, trying and failing to change the structure of the deep-v with one pull. 

With a ding, the elevator stopped and Rey had no time left to ruminate over her bad decisions from that morning. Instead, she had moments to bite down the nerves that had suddenly leapt up from her gut. _Remember which Kylo you’re meeting,_ Rey thought, endeavouring to soothe herself. Walking warily down the carpeted corridor, she found room 1515 easily and taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and knocked three times. The door opened almost instantaneously.

“Hi,” Kylo stood awkwardly in the doorway, scraping a large hand repeatedly through his bedraggled hair. 

Rey gave him a shy smile, adjusting the grip she had on her laptop bag. She tried not to focus on how good he looked in his dark denim jeans and grey T-shirt. Rey found herself wondering if he owned any lighter colours, then immediately dismissed the thought, scolding herself. 

“Come in,” he said, stepping aside to let her past. 

Rey ambled over to the middle of the room, unzipping her laptop bag and retrieved a toy from her former life. _It’s time to focus,_ she thought determinedly to herself before dropping the bag on the floor by her feet. 

“Can I get you a-” Kylo stopped in his tracks, as he caught sight of the black scanner in her hand. “What is that?”

Rey quickly put a finger to her mouth, imploring him to be quiet. “Turn your phone off,” 

“Wha-?”

“Turn off your phone,” she whispered harshly at him. 

Kylo, looking utterly nonplussed, brought his phone out of his pocket slowly and turned it off. He held out his dark screen to Rey, his eyebrows furrowed. Rey gave him a curt nod, before turning off her own phone and springing to action.

She strode over to the floor to ceiling window, barely sparing a second to admire the view before she yanked closed the curtains. Turning on her RF scanner, she got to work. 

Meticulously, Rey began to scan the entire room, making sure to pay close attention to electrical outlets, the tv and the telephone. 

“So, how was your day?” Rey asked, elevating her voice slightly too much to be considered natural.

“Uh...It was fine,” Kylo replied, mimicking her intonation with uncertainty. He stood stock-still, his large frame looking uneasy as his eyes followed Rey around the room. 

Rey looked over her shoulder at him with wide eyes, gesticulating with her free arm for him to continue. A confused Kylo shrugged at her questioningly. Rey mouthed at him to ‘keep talking’.

“About what?” he whispered.

“What have you been up to?” Rey tried again.

“Not much?” Kylo shrugged again, shaking his head slowly at her.

Rey’s head fell back frustratedly, as she groaned in disbelief. How hard was it to pretend to have a conversation? 

“Okay,” Rey said a few moments later, letting out a sigh of relief. “No bugs!” She announced happily, grateful she didn't have to keep trying to squeeze blood from a stone.

“No bugs?” Kylo looked as though he was having an out-of-body experience. “You're worried about bugs?” 

“I _was_ worried about bugs, not anymore.” Holding up the scanner, she continued. “This is a radio frequency scanner. It can detect listening devices when they’re transmitting signals to their receiver.” Rey walked over to where her bag lay abandoned on the floor and packed the scanner away again, taking a small torch out in its place. “It works better when there is something for it to transmit,”

“Which is why you were talking like that…” Kylo trailed off, finally moving further into the room, his eyes trained on Rey.

She stood, nodding. “I’ve got to admit. I thought you would be better at picking that up and playing along, Mr renowned actor,” 

“I...well, I...I wasn’t prepared,” he pressed his lips into a hard line.

“Isn’t that what you actor folk call improv?” Rey teased.

Kylo’s cheeks coloured slightly. He looked as though he was readying to defend himself when he stopped abruptly, watching as Rey began to walk towards the entryway. 

“What are you doing now?” Kylo moaned, in a manner that wasn’t unlike a restless child. 

Rey, who had just turned out all of the lights, was wielding a small infrared torch and running it slowly around the room. “I’m checking for hidden cameras,” 

“With a torch?” He asked flatly. 

“Yes,” Rey uttered distractedly. “The infrared light will reflect against any hidden lenses,” 

Kylo let out a resigned huff. Rey could see him in her periphery, grabbing a beer from the mini-fridge before flopping down on the couch. 

As Rey finished her sweep of the hotel room, she took her chance to survey it properly. She had been expecting a suite, ostentatious and unnecessary. However, what she found was a room not unlike one she would book for herself, albeit larger and with amenities Rey wasn’t privy to. A king-sized bed lay on the right side of the room in front of a floor-to-ceiling windowed wall, which held a gorgeous skyline view of the city. Just off the entryway was a seating area with a grey, L-shaped couch and two matching armchairs centred around a glass coffee table. All of which were situated to provide an optimal view of the large, flatscreen tv which hung above them on a dark wall. To the left of that was a black frosted door which led to the bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. The back wall held a black unit equipped with a mini-fridge, an odd-looking sound system and a hamper of expensive-looking alcohol. 

Rey had instantly recognised the parts of the room which had featured in the photographs. The bed, the table in the entryway, the wall by the door, but somehow the room hadn’t aligned with the image she had created, indulgently, in her head. Rey had imagined a boudoir, a seducer’s paradise. Though Rey knew this hotel room probably cost more than she made in a month, it was incredibly simple in design. Minimalist. Clinical. A room where no artwork sullied the walls and was full of hard lines and sleek, untouched surfaces. _Even the couch has sharp edges_ , she mused distastefully. Its colour scheme was constructed of various shades of whites, blacks and greys. Which, now she thought about it, paired remarkably well with what she knew of Kylo Ren.

“All clear,” she stated proudly. Rey retrieved her bag and joined Kylo on the couch. 

“No bugs, no cameras,” Kylo took a long swig of his beer. “What are you gonna check for next? Bombs?” He huffed out a snort. 

“If someone’s trying to blow you up, you're on your own,” she smirked wickedly at him, setting up her laptop on the coffee table in front of them. “This is for you,” Rey said, bringing a phone out of a zipped compartment in her bag and handing it to him.

“A phone? I already have one of those,”

“It’s a burner phone. I’ve got one too. I think it’s best if we use these to get in contact with one another about the case. I don’t want us to leave a trail in case your blackmailer is keeping a closer eye on you than either of us are aware of. I’ve programmed my number in there already, so-”

“Is this really necessary?” Kylo snapped as he stood, slamming his beer on the table. He towered over Rey, angry eyes burning a hole through her. 

“I don’t know, Kylo. You tell me,” Rey looked up at him with hard eyes. She wouldn’t be intimidated by him. She had dealt with more menacing characters than an entitled actor like Kylo Ren. “You’re being stalked. We don’t know by who. We don’t why. All we know for certain is that each of the five photographs were taken while you were having sex in this hotel room. An arrangement that, allegedly, only you and Kaydel knew about-”

“There’s nothing _alleged_ about it,” Kylo retorted.

“-So how did they know you were here?” Rey stood, placing her hands on her hips, utterly unfazed by his interruption. “There are no listening devices or cameras in here, so someone must be working with them.” Rey watched as cracks began to appear in Kylo’s mask of indignation. “And until we know who that is,” she continued sternly. “I think we can afford to be a little paranoid, don’t you?” 

Kylo exhaled heavily. “Fine,”

“Fine.”

Neither of them made a move. Instead, they stood in silence, scrutinising the other. Rey didn’t dare look away from his piercing, brown eyes. Her stomach fluttered as he stared down at her intently, propelling images of her dream to the forefront of her mind. Rey could only recount flashes of the dream now, but reliving those brief moments of intimacy were enough. They had stood just like this, facing off angrily before they gave way to the sexual tension that had threatened to overwhelm them. Their faces smashed together in a bruising kiss, while their hands roamed desperately. In their wanton desire, they had clumsily fallen onto the couch and devoured one another with a recklessness that had made Rey’s toes curl. 

Rey reeled at the memory. Deposited her back into reality, she saw that Kylo’s eyes had shifted from hers. She followed his gaze. Her jacket must have fallen open at some point, revealing the cleavage that was generously framed by the deep-v neckline of her dress. This is where Kylo’s dark eyes lingered. Rey gulped as she glanced back up to his face, his pupils dilated, his bottom lip captured between his teeth. _You’re here to work, Rey_ , an unrelenting voice frustratedly reminded her. Reluctantly, Rey closed her leather jacket around herself, crossing her arms over her chest to secure it in place and sat down on the couch gingerly. If Rey wasn’t mistaken, she thought she caught a smirk playing at the corner of his lips, but it was gone just as soon as it had come. 

Kylo sat down. “How did you know her name was Kaydel?” 

It wasn’t an accusation exactly, but she could see the worry in his eyes. It was a countenance that mirrored Leia’s in the conference room yesterday morning, and it was the first time Rey had recognised his mother in him.

“You let it slip around the same time you were angrily telling me I was a wannabe PI with a superiority complex,”

Kylo screwed up his face. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that,”

“Are you?” 

“A little bit,” Kylo teased, picking up his beer and taking another sip. He ran a finger along his bottom lip thoughtfully. “I just don’t like strangers invading my personal life,”

“It’s a good thing you’re not an actor then...oh wait,” Rey mocked, a playful smile on her face.

Kylo let out a deep, earthy chuckle, which surprised Rey. Seeing him now, a mirthful twinkle in his eye, an unguarded, toothy smile on his face, dimples framing his soft lips, Rey was sure she had never seen anything more adorable. She could feel her grin growing wider. _Oh_ , _I’m in trouble._

“I don't mean to be difficult,” Kylo confessed soberly, the twinkle gone from his eyes. 

It unsettled Rey how quickly he could drop himself into solemnity. She found herself yearning to see the easiness back in his features. “So, it just comes naturally then?” she quipped.

”Yeah,” He surmised. “I guess it does,” 

“Look,” she started, changing tact. “I know getting stalked is stressful. You don’t know who to trust, your privacy has been invaded and-”

“It’s not just that.” Kylo interrupted, his thumbs picking at the edges of the label on his beer bottle. “I’m not the only one in those photos, Rey. It’s not just my life, my career, my reputation at stake here. It’s Kaydel’s too. I don't want to do anything that could hurt her,” 

This was the most forthcoming Kylo had been since she had met him. His concern for Kaydel was endearing, his vulnerability telling. All Rey wanted to do was reassure him, to let him know he could place his faith in her, that he could be confident that she was here to help him, both of them.

“I know you’ve only just met me, but all I want is to help resolve this quietly and peacefully. I promise, I would never knowingly do anything to put you or Kaydel in harm's way, which is why I won’t do anything without consulting you first.” Rey angled herself towards him, making sure to catch his gaze, she needed him to see the conviction in her eyes, the promise. “I have dealt with situations like this before, which is why Leia got me involved. I can go to places you can’t. I can figure this out, but in order to do that, you’re going to need to trust me,” 

“Okay,” he said after a beat. “I can try,”

They spent the next half hour chatting with a stilted kind of ease. Kylo had gotten her a bottle of water and Rey had let him settle, let his comfort level heighten before she began to pepper him with questions. 

“So, are you ever going to tell me Kaydel’s surname?” Rey inquired. 

Kylo eyed her with frustration.

“You’ll have to let me talk to her eventually.” Rey was starting to wonder if Kylo had told Kaydel about the blackmail or not, it would explain his reluctance. “What if you weren’t the original target, what if she was?” Rey pressed. “What if they had been following her and stumbled upon you by accident? You _are_ a much more desirable blackmailing prospect,”

“Thanks?” 

“I’m just saying,” Rey gave him a rueful smile. 

“You really think Kaydel could have been their target?” Kylo’s voice was small, concerned.

“It’s something to rule out,” Rey replied honestly. “I need to wheedle out the impossibilities first so I can focus on any viable leads,” 

“Connix. Her surname is Connix.” 

Rey nodded gratefully at him, typing her name into a word document on her laptop. 

“You know, me and Kaydel...we’re not...we don’t have a contract,” 

“What?” Rey asked, puzzled.

“Yesterday. You made the assumption that we were in a dominant/submissive relationship, that we had a contract. We don’t,” Kylo affirmed.

“Okay,” Rey uttered, unsure how she should respond. 

“We met on set a few years ago. We realised we have similar sexual preferences and when we’re in the same town, are free, and unattached, we meet up to explore those preferences,” Kylo summarised their history as though he was rhyming off a shopping list. For some reason, Rey felt relieved.

“And when she is in town, do you always meet in this hotel?” 

“Yes. This hotel, in this room. Every time.” He confirmed.

“How long have you had this arrangement?” Rey asked. She refrained from asking who else could have known about it, knowing that line of questioning would only antagonize Kylo and put an abrupt end to the uninhibited dialogue they had managed to open.

“I don’t know, a couple of years maybe?” 

“And the photographs, can you pinpoint a timeframe?” Rey began typing some notes to give Kylo a few moments to think, unencumbered by the pressure of her expectant gaze. 

“I’m going to say three months?” The high timbre of his voice spoke of his uncertainty. “Before that, Kaydel was in a relationship, so we hadn’t seen each other that way in about six months.” Kylo clarified. “We’ve only seen each other a handful of times in the past three months, and from what I can tell, there is at least one photograph from each meeting,”

“Okay,” She pondered that for a moment. Three months. Something wasn’t adding up. 

“What is it?”

“I’m just confused by the timeline,” She admitted. “Blackmailers are usually desperate or opportunistic, but this person gives you a month to agree to their terms, after spending three months collecting compromising photographs of you? What is the significance of July 31st?”

“I don’t know,”

“No upcoming film announcements? No press tours? No interviews?”

Kylo shook his head. “I mean, I’d have to check with my agent, but none that I can think of,”

Rey furrowed her eyebrows. She had a disconcerting feeling in her gut. It weighed heavily on her, entangling anxiety with every theory, knotting worry into every thought. She looked across at Kylo’s laptop screen, rereading the email once, twice, three times. When she couldn’t glean anything new from the words, she sighed dejectedly. 

“What? Tell me.” 

“I just...I have this gut feeling that those photographs aren’t the end game here,” Rey answered him honestly, wondering if he had considered this himself.

“What do you think is?” He asked. There was no worry, no panic, just a question—an intrigue. 

“I’m not sure,” The more embroiled Rey found herself becoming in this, the more she began to fear over its possible outcomes. But there was no point in blind speculation. She needed proof. She needed some evidence to either prove her theory or refute it. Rey went to the email again, clicking through the photos. 

“Do you see that?” Rey asked, pointing at the screen. “It is quite faint, but it looks like the reflection of a camera,”

Kylo shuffled in closer to her to get a better view. “I see it,” 

“They took the pictures through a window,” Rey observed. That eliminated a couple of rooftops directly opposite the hotel. “If we can enhance that reflection, we can potentially find out the make or model of the camera,”

“I’d settle for anything remotely discernible at this point,” 

Rey hesitated. “I know someone who would be able to work wonders with that photograph,” 

Kylo turned to her, an unreadable expression on his face. 

“I know how personal these photographs are to you, how personal this whole situation is. But considering we only have a few weeks to try and resolve this, I was hoping you would allow me to bring a couple of people into the fold to help.” Rey began to get nervous, feeling the need to justify herself further. “They are close friends of mine. I trust them with my life, and I know for certain they wouldn’t say a word. I completely understand if you’d rather meet them first or-”

“Rey,” He put a soothing hand over hers, silencing her anxiety with one touch. “I trust your judgement,” 

He didn’t say he trusted _her_ , but she could feel that he did. She could feel it in the way his hand enveloped hers and in the way he gazed at her in earnest. Rey felt an affinity with Kylo that she couldn’t explain. A wordless energy that drew her in. She could feel herself becoming invested in a man she barely knew, and it terrified her. 

“Okay,” she removed her hands from his, taking her jacket off, suddenly feeling warm. “I’ll contact him and see what he can do.” Rey walked over to the windowed wall, drawing back the curtains, revealing the gorgeous view of the city. 

They were on the fifteenth floor, so she was looking for an establishment just as tall, if not taller. Rey surveyed the hotel’s surroundings and honed in on an office building diagonally across from it. It had four or five floors on The Falcon, and it’s exterior was made entirely of glass - Rey made a mental note to find out which businesses traded from that property. The hotel was too far away for an office worker to simply stumble across Kylo and Kaydel through the window, which meant that it wasn’t random, it required planning, prior warning. Rey imagined the photographer needed a unique lens to capture pictures that clear over this distance. _Someone had to be working with the photographer,_ Rey concluded. _But who?_

“What happened?” Kylo interrupted the theory that was rapidly forming in Rey’s head. 

She turned to find him standing beside her, a burly hand cradling her right arm, concern etched on his beautiful face. “Oh, that? I fell yesterday morning,”

“Does it hurt?” he asked, tracing it with the back of his fingers, so tenderly, so softly, it could have been a flurry of wind dancing along her skin.

Rey shivered at his touch. She sucked in harshly as he hit the hard lump that had formed on her arm overnight. “Yes,” she hissed. “It hurts,”

There was an apology waiting in his eyes. His hand slid down the length of Rey’s arm until his fingers brushed hers. Rey’s breath caught in her throat as she watched their fingers dancing around each other, a tingling sensation radiated throughout her right arm, disarming her. They barely knew each other and yet, her body reacted so strongly to him. Rey glanced back up to Kylo, an unreadable expression on his face. She longed to know what he was thinking, and whether his body was reacting just as strong as hers was.

Kylo cleared his throat, taking a step back from her, balling his wayward fingers into a tight fist. _Well, that answers that question._

Rey sighed, resentment threatening to reveal her disillusions. “You’re sure that no one else apart from you and Kaydel knew of your arrangement to meet here?”

“Yes,”

“And you’re one-hundred percent confident that Kaydel wouldn’t have told anyone,” Rey asked her guard up, her head back in the game.

“I’d bet my life on it,” he said earnestly. 

If her life as a Fixer had taught her anything, it was that no matter how much a person trusted their friends, family or coworkers, as an outsider looking in, it was always sensible to treat any situation with a healthy dose of cynicism. Trust wasn’t an easy thing to do for Rey back then and was an issue that had stalked her into her new life. It was like a shadow that haunted her every move, undermining friendships and interfering with her chances of having any meaningful relationships. But Rey had been trying hard to open up a bit more and let people in, especially in the last couple of years. Although she knew she still had a ways to go, she was proud to have friends in Poe, Rose and Finn, and that Luke and Leia were constants in her life. There was, however, a part of Rey that worried she would never fully be able to let down her walls, and that meant she would never be truly capable of being loved. Not in the way she read about in books or the way she saw and heard in the people around her. Not in that unconditional, overwhelming, unapologetic, unyielding way she dreamt of. Because in the end, that’s all Rey has ever wanted, to be loved. 

Rey studied Kylo with a critical eye. 

“Alright, then. I have an idea,” 

* * *

Rey walked into the lobby with the confidence of someone who has never had to worry about money. She had never been good at acting, but Kira had picked up a few characters to help her gain access to people and places she wouldn’t usually be permitted. Rey had taken down her hair and strutted towards reception. She waited until she was second in the queue before cueing Kylo, who Rey had instructed to stride through the lobby and out the door without a second glance. About five minutes later, he did just that.

“Oh my god!” Rey squealed, adopting a whiney American accent as she leant into reception. “Was that Kylo Ren? Is he staying here? Does he stay here often?” 

The receptionist behind the desk, an older man with grey speckled hair, looked at her with disinterest. 

“Does he go to the bar? What I wouldn’t give to have a drink with that man,” Rey said dreamily, making sure to say it just loud enough to echo around the other members of staff. 

“I cannot disclose the activities of one of our guests. I’m sure you understand,” The receptionist explained haughtily.

“Of course,” she replied, her disappointment evident. From the corner of her eye, she could see a bellboy lingering a few steps away from them, taking a keen interest in their conversation. Taking a spa menu from the supercilious receptionist, she walked towards the elevator to follow her hunch. 

As suspected, the bellboy followed her. Rey could see from the reflection in the mirrored walls that his name badge said, DJ. They stood in silence for three floors before DJ began to speak. 

“You were right, that was Kylo Ren,” 

Rey turns to DJ with feigned excitement. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. He st-stays here all the time,”

“He does? I would love to get the chance to talk to him. He is just so _handsome_. There is something about those grumpy, stoic types that drives me wild,”

“You know, if you gave me your number, I could g-give you a buzz whenever he is here. It would increase your chances of getting that drink,” he said with a wink.

DJ couldn’t be much older than eighteen. He seemed altogether too immature to come up with this scheme on his own. 

“You would do that?”

“For you? Of course.” Rey cringed at the patronising tone in his voice, so exploitive, so assuming. “It would come at a price, though. I could g-get into serious trouble for this,” 

“How much?” She asked, wondering how many gullible girls had paid this young man.

“Two-hundred and fifty bucks,” 

_I’m sure Kylo will be thrilled,_ she thought. “You have yourself a deal, DJ,”

Rey, instead of digging into her bag to retrieve her purse, reached over and pulled on the emergency stop knob. The elevator ground to a halt.

“What the hell?” DJ exclaimed. 

“I’m part of Mr Ren’s security team,” she said, keeping her American accent, but replacing the entitled whine, with cold professionalism.

“Shit.”

“I’m here to investigate how an obsessed fan has managed to be here every time Mr Ren is. How he knows which room he is staying in, how he knows Mr Ren’s comings and goings. I’m willing to bet you know something about it,”

DJ made to lunge for the emergency button, but Rey caught his hand with hers, squeezing it and twisting her body to put him into a wristlock, immobilizing him.

“Ow, fuck. Okay, okay. I mi-might know something about it,”

“Talk,” she demanded. 

“A guy came to me in the alleyway out back while I was having a smoke. He offered me a thousand dollars each time I let him know when K-Kylo Ren came to the hotel,” The longer DJ was in the hold, the more panicked he became. Rey took pity on him and released him. DJ groaned, relief heavy in eyes as he cradled his wrist.

“And you agreed?”

“Well, yeah. I’m trying to pay my way through college. Getting a thousand bucks to send one text? That’s not an offer I could refuse,”

“And the thought you were invading his privacy or putting him in danger didn’t happen to cross your mind?” Rey asked his blase attitude grating on her.

“N-not really, no,” he answered.

“This guy, what was his name?”

“I don’t know, he never said, and I never asked.” 

“Well, what did he look like?” Rey’s patience was dwindling by the second. 

“I see a lot of people. It’s a b-busy hotel,” 

“I’m willing to bet you paid a lot more attention to a man who gave you a thousand dollars,” Rey asserted. When he didn’t reply, Rey took her phone out of her pocket and showed him that she had been recording their entire conversation, she watched as Artie’s jaw tightened. “I wonder what your manager would think about one of his employees exploiting the privacy of one of his guests for monetary gain. Doesn’t The Falcon pride itself on its discretion?”

“Okay, okay. You have to p-promise you won’t give that c-clip to my manager, I really need this job,” he asked, desperately, his stuttering increasing.

“I won’t tell your manager,” she promised. 

“He w-was wearing a hood, and it was dark, so I didn’t g-get a good look at him, but he seemed older-,”

“How old?” Rey interrupted.

“I don’t know, j-just older. He had a gravelly voice and kind of gave me the c-creeps. He was a little taller than me, and that’s all I can remember,”

“Fine. I’m going to need the number he gave you. And the number of anyone else you’ve promised to ‘give a buzz’,” Rey said, hitting him with a pointed look. 

“I only offered to text three women, including you. But I never p-planned on actually texting them. I just wanted the money,”

“How noble of you,” Rey deadpanned.

After jotting down the number of the mysterious man, Rey pushed the emergency knob back in. The elevator roared back to life, and they pushed the button to take them back to the ground floor. DJ promised to stop his side business, while Rey pretended to delete the recording of his confession. As an afterthought, Rey took DJ’s number in case she needed anything else from him. The elevator door opened with a ding and Rey left the hotel with more questions than when she had arrived. 

* * *

It was half-six, and Rey had just pulled up to a parking space outside her apartment. She had gone back to work for a few hours to clear her head of the rollercoaster that had been that afternoon. Sitting in her car, Rey decided she should fill Kylo in on DJ. Bringing out her burner phone, she phoned it's only contact. 

“Do you want to know how much your privacy is worth?” 

“I’m scared to ask,” 

“One-thousand dollars,” She stated plainly.

“Is that all?” He asked part incredulity, part sarcasm.

“I mean, he downgraded it to two-hundred and fifty dollars when he propositioned me,”

“You must have got the hot, rich girl discount,” he quipped. “Do you think he’s in on it?” Kylo asked after a pause. 

“Nah. He’s just a kid, can’t be older than eighteen. I can’t decide if he is naive or just ignorant, either way, he’s just looking for easy ways to make money. I reckon it was a deal of convenience for both of them.” Rey rolled her shoulders, feeling her exhaustion accumulating in knots along the top of her back. “Anyway, I got the number the bellboy has been contacting, so maybe we’ll get something from that,” 

“Another day, another invasion of privacy,”

“I got a recording of him admitting to the deal, so you can complain, or go to the police or have your security deal with it...assuming you have personal security, of course,”

“Thanks, Rey,” The deepening of his voice, the sobering, it spoke of his gratefulness. Rey imagined his thick eyebrows raised ever so slightly, his dark eyes taking on a puppy-like quality.

“You’re welcome,” she hesitated before asking, “Could you hold off on doing anything about the bellboy just yet? We might need him,”

“Okay,” Kylo replied instantly, not bothering to question Rey further.

They made their goodbyes, and Rey looked forward to putting today’s smorgasbord of emotions to bed.

* * *

“Shots!” Poe exclaimed as he precariously slid a tray crammed with lethal-looking shots onto their table.

“Poe!” Rey groaned in displeasure. “I have work in the morning, we _all_ do,”

“Live a little, Rey.” He said, dealing out shots to the four of them. “I know that place is your life, but it is not going to fall apart because you get there at half-twelve instead of half-eight,”

Poe and Rose had cornered Rey in her office on Thursday morning and somehow managed to convince her to go out for drinks that night to let off some steam. They had perched on either side of her desk and told her that she had been working too much, had been far too stressed lately and had decided she needed an injection of fun in her life. Fun, as it turned out, was copious amounts of alcohol and bad karaoke. That’s how she found herself sitting at a table at The Resistance bar with Poe, Rose and Finn on a work night. 

They hadn’t been wrong. Rey _had_ been working too much. It seemed to be full steam ahead in the office and looked like it would be right until launch day. Any free time she had, she dedicated to following leads on Kylo’s case. Rey’s study had been taken over by pictures, magazine articles featuring Kylo Ren, and a plethora of post-it notes documenting theories or questions she didn’t want to forget. 

“Plus,” Rose slurred. “Three shot Rey is way more fun that two gin Rey,” Rose observed.

“Fine,” Rey acquiesced, far too readily. “But I have to be home by twelve,” she told them firmly.

“Scouts honour,” Poe promised.

The four of them raised their glasses, cheersed with a clink and gagged in various stages of distress as the tequila hit their throats. The night was filled with dancing, chatter and drinking games, Rey knew she would curse them for in the morning. Poe and Rose had been right. She needed this night of hilarity with her friends. It was the lightest she had felt in days.

It was around half-ten, and they were all suitably inebriated. Poe was leaning lasciviously on the bar, flirting with a blonde that was entirely out of his league, and Rose was trying to convince the DJ to play Erasure’s ‘A Little Respect’ for the third time that night. This left Rey and Finn huddled up in their booth, chatting nonsense and laughing as a couple of twenty-somethings were trying to teach a group of forty-somethings to floss. 

“Hey, Finn?” Rey asked, knowing that right now was not the right time to have this conversation. However, the five shots of tequila, two gins, and vodka cocktail that were currently swirling around inside of her, seemed to convince her otherwise.

“Yes, Rey?” 

“I need your help with something,”

“What?” Finn asked inquisitively.

“I can’t talk about it here. Are you free on Saturday?”

“I’m going to assume it’s not for IT support?” He joked. 

Finn had joined Organa Industries a year or so after Rey. He never spoke about his job before he joined the IT department, but it was apparent fairly quickly that his talents were wasted on the ninth floor. Leia used to joke that if they kept reminding him about that, Finn might start believing it and leave. He wasn’t there long before he had designed a whole new security system and now, rightly so, was one of the leading technology designers in the company. Finn had run into Rey on his first day on the job. Literally. He had bumped into her distractedly and poured four cups of hot coffee all over her. They laughed about it now, but at the time, it had caused months of tension between them. 

“Technically, no,”

Finn pulled back from Rey so he could get a better look at her. “Is everything okay, Rey?”

Their friendship had blossomed when Finn had found an anxious and paranoid Rey sitting on a bench outside of their office building one day. He sat with her, letting her cry and postulate that her past was going to come back to haunt her. It was the closest she had ever come to blurting out the details of her former life, but Finn never asked for particulars, it was like he knew that he shouldn’t. He had simply escorted her to his cubicle on the ninth floor, where he proceeded to delete her digital footprint and smuggle her someone else’s chocolate cake from the break room fridge. After that, Rey and Poe’s duo had quickly become a trio, with Rose joining a few years later. 

“Yeah, everything is fine,”

“Okay,” he said, not wholly convinced. “I’ll be there. Just name the time,”

“Ugh!” Poe groaned, slumping down opposite them, nursing a tumbler of whiskey.

“How did it go?” asked Finn. “Was she enamoured by you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Poe sighed dejectedly. “You know, she had the audacity to call me a fuck boy.” 

Rey and Finn started to snigger as Poe muttered: “the audacity” under his breath. 

“You don’t think I’m a fuck boy, do you, Rey?” He asked, his eyes glazed over in the way that informed Rey he wouldn’t remember this conversation in the morning.

“Of course I don’t,” 

Poe smiled drunkenly before screwing his face into a dramatic frown. “Guys, I’m going to need you to pepper me with compliments to help me recover from this unjust rejection,” 

Rey and Finn shared a look. 

“Your hair is okay,"

“And you’re really wearing that shirt,” Rey offered, suppressing a giggle.

“Thanks, guys,” 

* * *

Rey had cursed Poe the next morning when she woke with an unbelievable pounding in her head, nauseated beyond any kind of relief. She had had to take the morning off and spent the majority of it lying naked on her couch clutching a bottle of ice-cold water to her stomach, willing her painkillers to give her the strength to stand upright. It was around eleven o’clock before she began to feel human again. 

Her phone began to ring, echoing through her flat. It took her a beat to realise that it wasn’t the phone in her hand that was ringing, but the burner that sat in her study. 

“Kylo?” 

“Hi, can we meet? I need to show you something,” He sounded agitated, anxious. 

“Right now?” she queried. 

“Yes,”

“Erm, sure,” Rey said, hearing the urgency in his clipped tone. “Give me twenty minutes? Where should I meet you?” She asked, heading to her bedroom.

“Your place,”

“My place?” Rey stopped in her tracks.

“Yes,” 

“As in my flat? Where I live?” 

“Yes, Rey,” Kylo replied patiently. 

“It’s no five-star hotel,”

“Well, that’s a relief. I hear the bellboys can’t be trusted,”

Rey snorted. “Okay, sure. Come to my place,” 

“Great. I was hoping you would agree because I’m downstairs,”

“Downstairs? Just now?” Rey panicked, rushing into her bedroom, grabbing the first article of clothing she could find - a dusky pink skater dress - and pulled it over her head.

“Yeah,” He lingered on the word, regretfully. “I went to your office to see you, but you weren’t there, so Leia gave me your address. But...I don’t know which number you are,”

“2D,” she instructed, hurriedly brushing her fingers through her bedhead. 

“Okay, I’ll see you in a minute,”

Rey rushed around her house, picking up discarded clothes and spraying air freshener, too hungover to envisage what her apartment would look like through Kylo’s eyes. There was a firm knock at the door just as Rey was dumping clothes at the bottom of her wardrobe. As she opened her front door, Kylo burst in, his laptop already open.

“I got another email last night,”

“What?”

“I got another email. You need to see it,”

Rey reads the email and looks up at Kylo questioningly

> “FROM: [always.watching1@gmail.com](mailto:always.watching1@gmail.com)
> 
> TO: [kylo.ren57@gmail.com](mailto:kylo.ren57@gmail.com)
> 
> SUBJECT: Time is ticking....
> 
> I’m disappointed that I haven’t heard from you yet, Mr Ren.  
>   
>  Maybe you need more incentive…”

Kylo opened the photo attachments.

“Oh my God,” Rey gasped. 

There were four photographs this time. The first two images, to Rey’s surprise, feature Rey and Kylo standing at the window of room 1515 in The Falcon hotel. The first was taken while they both stared down at the bruise on Rey’s right arm, though you can’t see her injury in the picture. The second is of them standing close - closer than she remembered them being - their fingers intertwined, looking at each other intensely, but with a tenderness that could easily be misconstrued as adoration. The picture spoke of two lovers, not two strangers. _But I was there_ , Rey mused. _That’s not how it was, was it?_

Kylo clicked to the third and fourth picture, and Rey realised that these photos were the reason why he had hastily shown up at her apartment this morning. They were both candid shots of Rey, and only Rey. One was of her unlocking her car, her phone glued to her ear, her expression pensive. The other was taken last night outside The Resistance, Rey was bowled over in laughter as she tried to shove Rose’s feet into a cab. Dread filled her. Someone had been watching her at the bar last night. Watched as she had drunk with her friends, as she had danced and sang along with the karaoke. Had she spoken to them? Had they gotten that close? Rey tried desperately to recall the faces of the people she encountered in the bar last night, but she was coming up blank. Why had she drunk so much tequila? 

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. Rey knew she had to keep her composure. There was a silver lining here that they needed to focus on. Besides, Kylo seemed to be worrying enough for the both of them. “At least we know now that they’ve been keeping a closer eye on you than the original pictures suggested. That explains how they found out about your visits to the hotel,”

Kylo slammed his laptop shut, making Rey jump. “How can you be so calm about this?!”

“Because this is what they want, Kylo. Those photographs make us look like more than we are. They probably think they have stumbled on someone you really care about,”

Kylo began pacing around her lounge, his long strides making the room seem much smaller than it was. 

“Isn’t it better,” Rey began, attempting to placate him. “That they follow me instead of Kaydel?”

“No!” Kylo snapped, whipping round to face her. “I mean…” he paused to clear his throat. “...I’d rather they not follow anyone,” He clarified. 

Rey nodded sympathetically. “You know, this could work in our favour,”

“How? We don’t know who they are, or what they’re capable of-”

“And they don’t know what _I’m_ capable of,” Rey assured him, trying to silence the concern that seemed to be screaming from his eyes. “I can take care of myself,”

Kylo sighed heavily. “I’m just sorry I got you involved in this,”

“Well, technically, it was your Mum who got me involved in this,” Rey said humorously. 

Kylo snorted, but the smile never quite met his eyes. 

“Look, I’m going to go to the bathroom. Why don’t you grab yourself a drink from the kitchen, take a seat, and we can go over our next moves when I get back,” 

“Okay,”

After a few minutes, Rey came out of her bathroom and walked towards her living room only to find it empty. “Kylo?” He wasn’t in her kitchen dinette, her study or the spare room, which left only one other place. Her bedroom. 

She hurried to her room. The door was open wide, the bedside lamp on and Kylo’s silhouette was standing hunched over her bedside table. He turned round to her, as if sensing her presence, his eyes trained on his hands. He straightened and raised his head slowly to meet her eyes, his expression part disbelief, part confusion. 

“Wha-?” She started to ask and stopped when she processed what he had in his hands. Heat burst through her cheeks as she saw Kylo’s blackmail photos in one hand and her purple, vibrating dildo in the other. “I...eh...,” she stuttered in embarrassment, trying to force her brain to think of anything she could possibly say to diffuse this situation. “I can explain-“ 

“Did you…?” Kylo was switching his gaze between her, the photographs and her dildo. 

Rey could hear the rest of the question in her head, as clearly as if he was saying it aloud. _Did you pleasure yourself to these photos?_ “It’s not what it looks like,” She said, wishing she had an iota of conviction in her voice. 

“Isn’t it?” he asked, quirking his head as he stalked towards her. “Because what it looks like, is that you have been using these photos as your own personal wank bank,” there was a sternness to his voice, which made her feel as though she was being chastised like a child, and yet, his eyes told a different story entirely. 

Rey was at a loss of what to do. She kept her eyes locked onto his and wondered how exactly she had managed to get herself into this situation. He looked at her as though he simultaneously wanted to punish and devour her, and she had to try hard not to focus on the sensations that look was eliciting between her thighs.

“Show me,” he commanded. 

“What?” Rey knew what he was asking, but she was having a hard time believing it. 

“Show me.” He said again, licking his bottom lip while he scanned up and down her body. “Show me how you make yourself come to photos of me having sex,” this time he pushed her dildo to her chest, waiting for her to take hold of it before backing away from her. 

Rey gulped. Finally crossing the threshold to her room, she watched as Kylo made himself comfortable on her dressing chair, crossing his arms over his chest, looking as though he was settling himself in for a show. Anxious energy ran rampant around her body, spreading goosebumps along her arms and legs. Was she really going to do this? Was she going to lie on her bed and masturbate, while the subject of her most vivid fantasies sat watching her? 

“Do I make you nervous, Rey?” 

There it was. The voice that had seduced her twice in her dreams. She surprised herself by nodding shyly at him. He replied with a sly, if not smug, grin. 

“Get on the bed, Rey,” 

She stood for a moment in silent rebellion, wondering if the Kylo in front of her was the same as the one from her fantasies. If he was, she knew that his next command would be spoken in such a way that it would push straight through her trepidation and compel her into obedience. 

“Now.” 

_There it was._ Clutching onto her dildo, she walked over to her bed and sat on the edge facing Kylo. Rey put the dildo down on the bed next to her and ran her fingers up her thighs and began to play with the hem of her dress, her eyes never leaving his. 

“Take it off,” he said gruffly. There was a challenge in his eyes. Rey could tell that he didn’t think that she would go through with this. 

Rey tugged off her dress and gave him a smug smile of her own. He practically growled as he saw that she was completely naked underneath her dress. The realisation dawning, spreading through his features like a wave. 

“Show me now,” he rasped impatiently. “I want to watch you come,” 

Rey shuffled herself back on the bed a little so she could get more comfortable, but not so far that Kylo didn’t still have an optimal view of her throbbing vagina. Before she did anything else, she retrieved her pillows and sat them behind her back. Then Rey brought her attention back to her dildo. She picked it up and stared at Kylo as she licked down its shaft, before circling its tip with her tongue. She could feel that she was already wet enough not to need any lubricant, but Kylo wanted a show, _so I’ll give him one,_ she thought brazenly.

She took the dildo into her mouth, sucking on it slowly, guiding it in and out before she removed it with a pop. She twisted the base of the dildo and grinned as it began to vibrate in her hand. Rey kept her eyes locked onto Kylo’s as she traced over her collarbone and down to her chest. She circled each of her breasts in turn until her nipples were hard and tingling, sending small waves of pleasure to her pulsating pussy. 

Kylo was watching her intently, his eyes dark and full of want. He unfolded his arms and splayed his hands on his thighs. Rey could see his knuckles turn white as he tensed his fingers, she wondered if he had to try hard to restrain himself, to stay seated in that chair and simply watch. 

Rey traced down her stomach with the dildo, running it along the insides of her thighs, teasing herself, until finally, she settled it on her clitoris. Her body shivered at the contact, and she arched into, needing to feel that release, but knowing she couldn’t let go, not yet. Moans escaped her as the vibrator sent waves of pleasure rocketing through her. She moved it down, along her slit, resting it at her entrance, squirming in anticipation. Rey looks directly at him as she pushes the dildo inside of her, pumping it quickly. The vibrations and friction paired together threaten to overwhelm her.

Kylo sits forward in her chair with wild eyes. For some reason, he had resolved himself to be a spectator, rather than a participant and Rey wanted to see how far she could push him before he intervened. She turned off the vibrations and slid her dildo in and out at an agonizingly slow speed, making her whimper for release. Rey wanted to beg him, plead for him to come over and help her finish. She wanted him to touch her, to feel his skin on hers. She wanted to kiss him, to grind on him. She wanted him. She was driving herself crazy and started to writhe her vagina up and down, meeting the dildo. 

“Stop,” Kylo demanded. 

Rey stilled for a moment, unsure. It was like the air had left the room as Rey’s eyes snapped to his. They stared at each other with a mixture of longing and unease. Her breathing was laboured, her forehead slick with sweat and her insides screamed for sweet relief. Kylo stood, and Rey saw his erection straining through his black jeans. She couldn’t help but grin.

He strode over to her, stopping so he loomed over her, his body between her splayed legs. 

“Can I?” He asked, removing her hand from the base of her dildo.

Rey nodded, her body aching for relief. 

Kylo twisted the base, a smirk playing on his lips as the dildo roared to life inside of her. Rey’s head fell back. Her eyes scrunched tight as he moved the vibrating dildo in and out of her. She could feel his broad frame moving around between her legs and opened her eyes to see him crouching down. He wrapped a strong arm around the top of her thigh, using his fingers to hold open her labia. 

“Look at me,” he commanded. “I want to watch you come undone.”

Rey did as she was told. Her breath became erratic as Kylo’s intent became clear. With the vibrating dildo gliding slowly in and out of her, Rey could barely contain herself as Kylo’s tongue made contact with her sex. He lapped her up like a dog that had been deprived of water. Devouring her. Driving her closer and closer to the edge.

“Fuck,” she panted, clenching the bedsheet in her hand. 

Kylo quickly removed the dildo from her pussy, throwing it on the floor as he licked up and down her slit slowly, before ploughing his tongue into her. He pumped his tongue into her with such abandon, her body began to convulse. She was so close, so, so close. 

“I’m going to come,” she announced as Kylo circled her clit with his thumb. 

Hearing this, Kylo used his arms to lift her ass higher, penetrating her deeper with his tongue, increasing his pace on her clit. Rey couldn’t hold back her moans as the pressure built to dizzying heights. Just as she was beginning to let go, Kylo sucked hard on her clit. Rey’s eyes rolled back into her head as she cried out in ecstasy, her orgasm erupting from her. 

Rey’s legs fell to the bed in a heap. Panting, she opened her eyes to see Kylo taking in her naked body as it trembled on the bed. If it was possible, there was more hunger in his eyes than there had been before. Rey wanted to make him feel as good as he’d just made her feel. She wanted to give him that release. She mustered as much energy as she could, to push herself up, so she was sitting in front of him. Rey grabbed a fistful of his black t-shirt and pulled him down onto the bed with her. Their bodies were flush together, and she could feel his erection straining through the confines of his dark jeans. Rey bit her bottom lip as she tucked a rogue strand of hair behind his ear. Kylo used his thumb to emancipate her lip, rubbing his nose against hers before he captured her lips with his. They became a tangle of limbs as they rolled around her double bed, making out like sexually frustrated teenagers. 

Rey wasn’t sure how it had happened. One minute she couldn’t discern where her body ended, and his began, and in the next, Kylo had been snatched out of her grasp. Disorientated, Rey looked up to see a conflicted Kylo hovering in front of the bed, running a hand through his hair. 

“Kylo?” Rey sat up on the bed, worried she had done something wrong. She reached out to him, but he flinched away from her.

“I can’t,” His words had barely penetrated her ears before he had flown from the room, the front door slamming behind him. 

Had that just happened? Rey twisted herself to retrieve her discarded dress, sucking in a sharp breath as her right side screamed out in protest. Adrenaline must have dulled the ache in her side as they had rolled around her bed. She wretched the dress over her naked body, drawing her knees up to her chest. Rejection began to creep slowly around her mind. Its dark, protruding fingers corrupting her memory, poisoning her thoughts and oppressing her optimism. Kylo hadn’t wanted her. 

_And who could blame him?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else wish they could re-enact that last scene? Just me? Okay.
> 
> Yeah, this chapter was a lot longer than I predicted, but I think you're just going to have to resign yourselves to the fact all my chapters are going to be beasts. Hopefully, it'll tide you over until the next one. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts and theories!
> 
> I've gone and made myself a twitter. Come say hi and send me GIFs to stare at.  
> @a_littlelesscon
> 
> <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello beautiful people!
> 
> I want to thank everyone who left kudos, bookmarked and subscribed, I am sending you all virtual hugs. A special thank you to everyone who commented, your words make me feel all warm and fuzzy, and I promise I will reply to all of you. Keep them coming!
> 
> I'm posting this chapter later than I intended, but real life, not unlike Adam Driver, has a way of distracting you. 
> 
> As always, a shoutout to my beta @someonesbeenhere, who has been keeping me motivated by shouting "HOW IS YOUR WRITING GOING?" at me every couple of days. She has her theory on who the blackmailer is, do you have yours?
> 
> Sending love to you all.  
> Kat  
> <3

Rey walked into Jabba’s feeling slightly underdressed. Kaydel, who sounded just as sweet as Rey presumed she would, had insisted that they meet at a fancy Italian uptown for brunch. Rey had opted to wear her mustard, tailored suit with a white lacy bodysuit. It made her feel powerful, and in a restaurant which was often frequented by the rich and famous, Rey needed all of the power she could get. 

“Rey!” A beautiful, blonde in a bedazzled black dress, waved at her energetically from a table across the room. 

With an air of embarrassment, she walked towards Kaydel, shaking off contemptuous looks that were aimed at her by some of the other patrons. Kaydel stood as Rey approached her, taking Rey’s hands in hers.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Rey,” Kaydel said with an easy smile on her face, before air-kissing Rey on each cheek. “Bellini?” She asked as she took her seat and gestured for Rey to take hers. 

“No, thank you. I’m driving,” Rey sat, slightly discomforted by Kaydel’s overfamiliarity.

Kaydel was just as beautiful in real life as she had been in the photographs, and she had an affability about her that gave her an immense likeability. She had kind eyes, expressive eyes, youthful eyes. Rey could understand why Kylo had been so protective over her. 

“I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered a selection of the chef’s specials for us to munch on. You aren’t allergic to anything, are you?”

"Cat hair,” Rey quipped sardonically, prompting a melodic giggle from the other side of the table. “So, how did you and Kylo meet?” 

“We met at a chemistry read about three years ago, ironically, the casting director did not think that we had any chemistry,” Rey shared in Kaydel’s chuckle. “It was for an indie movie, Death Star, did you ever see it?”

Rey shook her head, sipping on the cucumber water that sat in front of her. 

“Admittedly, it wasn’t that great, but Kylo...” Kaydel sat back in her seat, interlocking her fingers, a wondrous expression on her face. “...Kylo is _spectacular_ in it. That film kick-started his career, you know. You should give it a watch if you get the chance,” 

Rey took a mental note of the film name to watch later. “So, when did you two…?” She trailed off, self-consciously scanning around to make sure no one was listening, suddenly aware she was asking about Kaydel’s sex life in the middle of a restaurant. 

“Start having sex?” Kaydel smirked, a knowing look in her eye. “You don’t need to tiptoe around it. Kylo told me you were going to ask, and I am happy to answer all of your questions. I’ll do whatever I can to help him,” 

“Are you two close?” Rey found herself asking, hearing the same protectiveness in Kaydel’s voice when she spoke of Kylo, that she heard when Kylo had spoken of Kaydel. 

“Not in the traditional sense, but we look out for each other. The audition circuit can be brutal. About two years ago we bumped into one another and let’s just say, we needed... consoling.” Kaydel quirked an eyebrow at her suggestively. “We discovered that we were _incredibly_ sexually compatible, and when you find someone that can make you feel the way Kylo made me feel that night, you hang on to that any way you can,” 

“But it’s not romantic?”

“No, definitely not.” Kaydel hurriedly replied. “We tried to date once, but we quickly came to realise that the bedroom is the _only_ place we are compatible,”

Rey tried not to dwell on the relief that overwhelmed her. “Have you ever told anyone about your arrangement with Kylo?”

“Never.” Kaydel sounded mildly indignant at the implication. “As part of our arrangement, we agreed to keep it quiet. Neither of us wanted to jeopardise our careers and the press...” Kaydel waved at a person that Rey couldn’t see, before taking a sip of her bellini and distractedly continuing, “...would have a field day if they found out, let me tell you,” 

To Rey, Kaydel seemed to be altogether too indifferent. The thought troubled her. Perhaps sensing Rey’s scepticism, Kaydel pressed on earnestly.

“I’ve never told a soul about Kylo - apart from our ill-advised date - and I never would. At least, not without discussing it with him first. He is a fiercely private person, Rey. I’d never betray his trust like that,” 

Rey considered Kaydel for a moment, still unable to place the uneasiness in her gut, but gave Kaydel a small nod all the same. This seemed to placate her because she let out a reassured breath and poured cucumber water into each of their tumblers. 

“When did Kylo tell you about the email and the photographs?”

“He raced over the night he received them. Kylo had been more worried about _my_ reaction to the photographs than he was about his own safety. Ridiculous man.” Kaydel had commented, nursing her bellini. “I was the one who told him to go to his parents instead of that agent of his,” she said, her voice dripping with disdain. 

“You don’t like his agent,” Rey affirmed. 

“He is a slimy, shrivelling excuse of a man. If Kylo told him about the blackmail, he would probably turn it into a PR stunt; he’s exploitive.” Kaydel spat out in derision. “Doesn’t care about his clients. All he cares about is getting money in his pocket.” She sighed harshly, her expression hardening for the first time since Rey had met her. “Have you met him? Snoke?”

“I haven’t had the pleasure,” 

“Count yourself lucky,” she said flatly, finishing off her bellini and gesturing for a nearby waiter to bring her a fresh one. “It’s a shame that it has taken something like this to bring them all back together,”

“Bring who back together?” Confusion knitted at Rey’s brows. 

“Kylo, and his parents,” She uttered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Four years is a long time, but I told him, family is family. That kind of love is unconditional,” There was an inebriated edge to Kaydel’s voice, and Rey found herself wondering just how many bellini’s she had consumed that day and whether she would still be this forthcoming if she were completely sober. 

“Kylo hasn’t spoken to his parents in four years?” Concern flooded through her.

Kaydel shook her head. “He won’t talk about it, not that he is particularly communicative about his private life, but he shuts down any attempts to talk about them.” She thanked the waiter who appeared at their table and placed a fresh bellini down in front of her. After taking a sip, she looked at Rey with a dreamy smile. “Wouldn’t it be so poetic, if this ugliness is what reunited them for good?”

Rey considered her. Kylo was a private person, but the fact that he wouldn’t disclose a single detail to Kaydel spoke volumes to Rey. It told her that something had happened, something that Kylo wasn’t particularly proud of. She looked back on the meeting she had had with Leia and Kylo in her conference room. She tried to recount their interactions with one another, tried to look for telltale signs of a rift, of the fragility of their relationship, but she couldn’t remember seeing any. Yes, they had been a little brisk with one another, but she had accounted that to the stressfulness of the situation. Rey wanted to question Kaydel about it further, but her moment was crushed by the arrival of their food.

Kaydel had ordered a smorgasbord of pastas, salads, breads and fish, which all fought for their place on the table. The spread looked undeniably decadent and Rey’s mouth watered at the sight. While she now possessed the means to afford an Italian, Michelin starred, restaurant like this, she had rarely allowed herself the luxury. Rey was going to enjoy every mouthful. They chatted amiably throughout the rest of their brunch as they gorged on expensive food. Kaydel was inherently likeable - there was no denying that. And yet, there was something about her that niggled Rey. Something she couldn’t place. 

“Well, I have an audition to get to, but if you need anything else, _anything_ , don’t hesitate to get in touch. You have my number.” Kaydel walked round to Rey’s side of the table, kissing each of her cheeks. “Let’s organise brunch again soon,” And with that, she was gone.

* * *

When Rey had gotten home from brunch, she immediately purged herself of her tight trousers and opted for a comfortable pair of jeans and a baggy t-shirt. She found herself thinking back on what Kaydel had said about Kylo and his family. _It’s a shame that it’s taken something like this to bring them all back together._ Rey hadn’t known Kylo had been estranged from his family. Neither he, Leia, or even Luke, had mentioned it. Rey felt sad for them all. She mourned for that time they would never be able to get back, she knew better than most what it was to live without family. Rey wondered if it had affected Kylo, the way it had affected her.

She padded through into the kitchen and started to make herself a cup of tea. For the last few days, Rey had been trying to figure out a pithy way to explain to Finn what was going on without divulging too many details. She wasn’t the one who was being stalked. It wasn’t her privacy being exploited. It was Kylo’s. In Rey’s mind, it wasn’t her place to reveal the particulars, if Finn agreed to come on board and help, she would let Kylo do the honours. 

There was a strong succession of knocks on her front door, which made Rey jump, spilling milk over the counter and herself. 

“Shit,” Rey licked the milk off of her fingers and headed to the door. Another knock. A picture of irritability, Rey opened the door while looking down at the drops of milk at the bottom of her t-shirt. “Why didn’t you use your key?” She asked distractedly. “I’ve spilt milk everywh-”

“Hi,”

Rey’s head snapped up. She had been expecting Finn with his friendly eyes and natural smile, but it was Kylo standing in front of her. He stood there wearing black denim jeans, a dark flannel shirt, a leather jacket and a stony, discomfited expression on his face.

Rey’s eyebrows furrowed. “What are you doing here?”

Doubt seemed to flash across his features. “You texted...to say you were going to talk to your friend today...to see if he could help?” He cleared his throat. “I thought I should be here,”

In her bid to remain professional - no matter how horrendously abashed she was feeling - she had texted Kylo that morning to let him know that Finn would be coming by later that afternoon and she would let Kylo know if he agreed to help. He hadn’t replied. She hadn’t expected him to, but Rey had told Kylo, at the beginning of this, that she wouldn’t do anything without consulting him. It had been an unspoken promise between them and no matter her emotional discord, no matter the fractured state of their acquaintance, she would keep her word.

Rey could feel her eyes narrowing at him, scrutinising him. His usual arrogant demeanour replaced with awkwardness. His earnest eyes now casting a question over every word. It was like he was unsure of himself, or rather, he was uncertain of his decision to turn up at her flat. 

“Okay,” she began, letting go of her t-shirt and folded her arms tightly across her chest, creating a barrier between them. “Well, he’s not here yet. He’s running late,” Rey said quickly, a touch of irritation to her voice. 

They stood either side of the threshold staring at one another in a tense silence, the small level of ease they had established the day before long gone. 

“Are you gonna let me in?”

With a sigh of resignation, Rey reluctantly stepped aside. As he strode past her through to the living room, Rey rested her forehead onto her front door and scrunched her eyes as she closed it slowly. She wasn’t ready to see him yet. She wasn’t prepared to deal with what had happened between them the night before. 

After Kylo had stormed hastily out of her flat, leaving her naked and dejected on her bed, Rey had allowed herself half an hour to let the tears fall, and then she did what she does best. She put her emotions in a box, plastered a smile on her face and buried herself in her work. Rose had looked at her puffy, glazed eyes with concern, but thankfully had attributed her bloodshot eyes to the copious amounts of alcohol she had drunk the night before. Now, standing, willing the ground to swallow her whole, Rey wished she had had some more time to align her thoughts before seeing Kylo again. 

Rey knew she had let her immediate attraction to him control her. She had indulged the voice in her head that felt compelled by him. She hadn’t thought about her actions or their consequences, and now Rey knew she had to face her stark reality. Taking a deep breath, Rey resolved herself to be cool, detached. Professional. The only investment she would have in Kylo Ren from now on was stopping his blackmailer. She wouldn’t get too close, wouldn’t touch him, and especially wouldn’t masturbate in front of him. This is how it should have been from the beginning, but her body, and her subconscious, had betrayed her. 

Rey walked into the lounge, exuding a little more courage than she had, to see Kylo in the middle of the room waiting for her. His hands were seemingly unable to keep still as they fidgeted within the pockets of his black, leather jacket.

“I was in the middle of making tea, do you want some?” Rey asked, keeping her voice light.

“Sure,”

She walked into the kitchen and began to mop up the spilt milk on the countertop before putting the kettle on to boil. Creaks on the floorboards behind her made Rey aware that Kylo had followed her into the kitchen and was now shifting his weight from foot to foot. She kept her attention on making tea, although she could hear him take a couple of deep, tentative breaths. Rey knew he was readying himself to talk about what had transpired between them the day before, but she didn’t want to talk about it. Not yet. 

“Rey, we should talk ab-”

“How do you like your tea?” she interrupted, pouring hot water into each cup.

“Black,” Kylo replied, faltering slightly. “I wanted to talk about ye-”

“Here you are,” Rey said, handing him his mug of tea, before briskly walking past him and into the lounge.

“Rey,” he called after her, following close behind. 

“I haven’t had the chance to talk to Finn about everything yet. We’ve both been slammed at work.” Rey was hoping to distract Kylo with small talk, cursing Finn and his tardiness. “I was hoping to-”

“Rey,” Kylo said testily over her, but Rey ploughed on.

“-speak to him myself first. Obviously, I can’t do that now. Or maybe I can. How would you feel about hiding in the st-”

“Stop!” Kylo snapped.

Rey stilled. The impatient glare in his eye a vice-like grip around her limbs, keeping her rooted to the spot.

“We need to talk about what happened yesterday. There are things that I want to say-”

“You don’t need to say anything, Kylo.” 

Kylo looked as if he wanted to protest, but Rey held up a hand to silence him.

“What happened yesterday...shouldn’t have happened.” Rey swallowed, resigning herself to what she had to do. “I can only apologise for my behaviour. It was inappropriate and unprofessional, and I promise it won’t happen again,”

Kylo shifted, his eyes softening. “Rey.” He looked pained as if this conversation wasn’t playing out how he had imagined it would. His expression confused her, but she wasn’t willing to read into it. _Cool. Detached. Professional._ “Can you let me explain why I walk-”

“Let’s just drop it, okay?” Rey urged. 

Kylo took a determined step towards her. “No, Rey. I don’t want to drop it,” he proclaimed emphatically.

They stood separated only by the coffee table, staring the other down, their tea beginning to turn cold as their mugs lingered in their hands. Rey wanted to know why Kylo had walked out, why he had rejected her, of course she did, but there was a little voice in her head telling her that his explanation would hurt more than her ignorance. Rey had no idea what she was going to say to him, no idea how to move past this.

“Rey-Rey!” 

_Saved by the bell_ , Rey thought as Finn’s voice bellowed through from the hallway. 

“I’m sorry I’m late, but you sounded utterly depressed on the phone this morning…”

Rey watched as Kylo glanced between her and the door, his eyes still demanding, waiting for her response. She couldn’t bear the tension that had gathered in the air around them and found herself unable, or rather, unwilling to hold his gaze. She turned her head to the side, listening to Finn as he approached. 

“...so I went to that bakery you like and got you some goodies,” Finn materialised at the door, a bright smile on his face as he held open a box with an assortment of delicious looking cakes. His smile faltered as he saw Kylo. “Sorry, I didn’t realise you had company,” Finn eyed up Kylo’s large frame and took a protective step towards Rey, closing over the cake box as he did.

Rey cleared her throat, willing the awkwardness to clear along with it. “Finn, this is Kylo. Kylo, this is the friend I was telling you about, Finn,”

Rey watched as Kylo gave him a curt nod and thought she heard him mutter a brief ‘hi’ under his breath. Finn, on the other hand, was glancing conspicuously between Rey and Kylo, looking slightly uncomfortable. He leant in towards Rey, and in a loud whisper asked, “Should I give you guys a minute?” 

_Observant as ever._ “No,”

“Yes,”

Rey’s head whipped round to Kylo. She could see him wordlessly declare that they needed to talk and maybe they did, but this wasn’t the time. Her eyes shot daggers at him as she gave him a vexed, yet almost imperceptible shake of her head. From the weighted sigh that escaped his plush lips, she knew he had caught it. Rey turned back to Finn, who had raised his eyebrows warily. “No,” she affirmed. “We’re fine. We’re done.” 

“Okay then,” Finn said sceptically, placing down the box of cakes. “So, are you going to explain what’s going on? Or should I start speculating?” 

* * *

If Finn was shocked that renowned actor and playboy, Kylo Ren was in Rey’s flat, he didn’t show it. Instead, he sat on the couch and listened with quiet contemplation as Rey detailed her meeting with Leia, the blackmail, the photographs, and the information she had discovered thus far. 

“So, let me get this straight. Kylo Ren,” he said pointed over at Kylo. “Is Leia’s son, Ben,”

“Yes,” Rey said patiently, answering for Kylo who had kept frustratingly quiet throughout their entire discussion. 

“And is getting stalked and blackmailed?”

Rey nodded.

“And they asked you to figure out who is behind it?”

“Yes,” 

“Why didn’t you go to the police?” Finn asked Kylo, a steady accusation to his voice. 

Kylo sat forward and spoke for the first time since Finn’s arrival. “A police investigation would elicit the kind of attention that could make this sort of situation a lot harder to remedy. My Mom said she knew someone that could handle this quickly and with discretion,” Kylo gestured towards Rey with one of his large hands.

Finn turned to her. On the surface, he seemed placated, but she could see the cogs turning in his head. “Is this because of…” 

She only nodded at him. Finn was alluding to the part of Rey’s past they didn’t talk about. The part before Rey. The part of her life that she had tried desperately to hide away and forget. The part of her life she had mercilessly been catapulted back into by one of the very people who had helped her bury it. She knew Finn had his suspicions about her life before Organa Industries. She knew he had witnessed her irrational reactions to trivial things and made his own deductions, but neither of them acknowledged the knowing look he would often give her—a look he was giving her right now.

“So, what exactly do you want my help with?” 

“I was hoping you could see what kind of magic you could work with the photographs. And if you can figure out who is behind the email address,” Rey pulled a USB drive out of her pocket and plugged it into her waiting laptop. “With Kylo’s permission, I uploaded some of the pictures and a copy of the email onto this thumb drive for you, but I think it’s probably best you take a look at the email now so you can see what kind of thing we are dealing with. I want you to know exactly what you’re getting into before you agree to help,” 

Kylo sat forward in his seat, as Finn looked through the email and each picture in turn. 

Finn glanced over Kylo with hard eyes. “I understand your need for discretion,” 

“I didn’t want to chance those pictures falling into the wrong hands,” Kylo said with tight lips. 

“I can see why.” Finn clicked on Rey's laptop before pulling out the USB and turning it round in his fingers over and over, studying it like it held the answers to his unspoken questions. “Are those the only pictures?” 

“No,” Kylo replied tersely. Rey knew that he was having a hard time blindly trusting a man that he had never met with something so personal, but she could see he was trying. “I received another email yesterday with pictures of-”

“They are much the same,” Rey intervened, stopping Kylo from revealing the contents of the newest images to Finn. She glanced over to him, issuing a silent plea. _Please don’t tell him about the other pictures._ Kylo rubbed a thumb over his bottom lip, watching her thoughtfully, his dark brows furrowed. Accepting Kylo’s silence as his tacit compliance, she turned to address Finn. “We were hoping you would be able to uncover the metadata and enhance some of the reflections in the foreground?” 

“I can do that easily enough, and I’ll see what I can find out about that email address.” Finn stood, suddenly seeming restless, yet there was an eerie calm about him. “Kylo, you don’t know me well enough to trust me or be secure in my abilities, but you have my word I won’t say a thing, and I’ll do my best to help however I can. No-one should have their privacy invaded like this,”

“Thank you, I appreciate it. Really,” Kylo’s voice was small, but Rey could hear the conviction in it, the gratitude.

Relief swirled around her, lifting some of the weight that had been resting heavily on her shoulders over the past few days. 

“Right, I am going to go home and make a start on this,” Finn said, holding up the USB before stealing a cake from the box on the table. 

“Thanks, Finn,” Rey said, standing to walk him out. 

“It was nice to meet you Kylo,” 

Kylo extended his hand to Finn, their hands shaking briefly. “You too, Finn.” A shrill ringing came from Kylo’s coat pocket, and he cursed under his breath as he pulled it out to see who was calling. “I’m sorry, I need to take this,” He muttered with a deep sigh, which only emphasised the reluctance creasing at his sharp features, and walked to a quiet corner in her living room. 

Rey and Finn gave each other an equally curious glance before they started walking towards her front door. 

“Are you going to be okay?” Finn asked as Rey opened the door for him, glancing pointedly beyond the living room door where she could hear angry whispers coming from Kylo. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She asked puzzled. 

“I don’t know. There was a weird vibe when I got here,” Finn said with slight discomfort. 

Rey could tell he was having trouble finding the right words, but she knew that Finn had felt the tension on his arrival. She had seen it in the way he had taken a protective step towards her and in the way he asked if they needed time to talk. What he was doing now, was trying to suss out what kind of tension lay between her and Kylo. Finn was always subtle in his curiosity, had it been Poe or Rose, she would have been peppered with questions the second Kylo had turned his back. 

“I’ll be fine,” Rey assured him with a smile. 

“Okay, I’ll call you when I’ve got something,” Finn wrapped her in a tight hug and left. 

Rey was glad that Finn was on her team. Not only was he incredibly skilled, but he had this calming influence on her. He was her best friend and could help her feel more secure in her decisions with just one nod of his head than she could after days of non-stop contemplation. 

Rey made to move back into the living room but hesitated upon hearing Kylo’s raised voice.

“I am well aware of that!” he barked. “I’ve already told you-”

Rey tentatively walked through the hall and lingered at the entrance of the lounge, watching as Kylo paced back and forth with aggravation, his free hand balled tightly into a fist by his side. 

“I’m not going to keep having the same fucking argument with you! I’ve done it now, so deal with it!” Kylo ended the call with an aggressive prod of his phone screen. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palms and expelled a fiery breath, holding himself like that for several moments. 

“Everything okay?” 

“Oh.” Kylo jumped slightly, too engrossed in his frustration to notice that Rey had returned to the living room. “Erm, that was Snoke,” With a heavy sigh, he straightened himself up and pocketed his phone. “My agent,” he clarified.

“I know,” Rey watched as Kylo raised his eyebrows at her in surprise, but she just shrugged at him. Ever since their first meeting almost a week ago, Rey had been compiling research on her new client. She wasn’t stupid enough to go into this blind. She needed to know who all the leading players were, whether Kylo wanted to tell her or not. 

Snoke was one of the senior agents at talent agency, First Order Ltd. He had represented some of the biggest names in show business and seemed to have a knack of finding impressive new talent. Snoke was well connected in the film industry; his name held a lot of clout. If Snoke wanted to work with you, so did everyone else. Although, from what Rey could tell, while his ability to build careers was unparalleled, his ability to destroy them was equally unrivalled. 

“That sounded a little...tense. Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, he’s pissed at me for cancelling auditions.” He said, sitting back at his place on the couch, taking a sip of his cold tea. “He’s not a big fan of not getting his way,”

“Yeah, Kaydel mentioned something similar,” 

Kylo hit her with a long, questioning look. Agitation briefly left his body, surprise settling in its wake.

“We had brunch,” she explained with a shrug.

Rey sat down in the chair across from him and watched as he took a doughnut from the cake box and picked at it with disinterest. In her need to remain cool, detached and professional, she hadn’t allowed herself to observe him properly. Now, sitting here, he looked tired. Like the weight of the world rested solely on his shoulders. His dark eyes framed with equally dark bags, which were only emphasised by the pallor of his face. She knew now that Leia had been right, he was more worried than he would ever admit. The stress of the blackmail, the elusive stalker, the estranged relationship with his parents, the invasion of his privacy, of Kaydel’s, of Rey’s now too, it was all taking its toll. He wasn’t impervious to it, and yet sometimes he acted as though he was above it all. She longed to see a smile tugging at his luscious lips, to hear a hearty chuckle escape them, to see that twinkle back in his beautiful, deep brown eyes. 

“Why did you cancel them?” Rey asked, indulging her intrigue.

“I told Snoke I wanted to take some time off from acting, so naturally he booked me for auditions almost every day next week,” There was humour in his voice, and yet that lightness didn’t touch his face.

“You want to stop acting?” Rey inquired, failing to keep the shock from her voice. 

“For a little while at least.” Kylo paused, taking a bite of the glazed doughnut he had been playing with. “Galaxy Wars was so intense for so long. I wasn’t prepared for how drastically it would change my life. I never wanted to be an actor, you know, I just kind of fell into it and I realised that I was good at it, that I liked it. But the more successful I become, the more recognised, the more I feel like my life isn’t my own.” There was an undeniable sadness about him, a listlessness. “And the blackmail? The photographs? They’ve only cemented my need to take some time away from this life,” 

“And here I thought you loved the attention,” Rey hit him with an impish grin, trying to lighten his darkened mood. 

“Oh yes,” he uttered sarcastically. “I’m constantly glaring at the paparazzi because I _love_ the attention,” 

Rey held her impish grin and began to feel mildly victorious as the corner of his lips began to twitch upwards slowly. They sat like that for a moment, smirking at each other across her coffee table, their eyes locked and Rey marvelled, once again, at how striking his eyes were. Kylo shook his head, breaking their eye contact, as he failed to hold back an earthy snigger. It was a small laugh of shock, rather than of humour and yet, Rey couldn’t help but chuckle with him.

“So, about your agent…” Rey asked tentatively, leaning into the question. She decided to tread lightly, unsure of how Kylo would react. 

“You want to meet him,” he stated knowingly.

Rey smiled at his ability to read her mind. “Yes, but since he doesn’t know about the blackmail, I wasn’t sure how you wanted to approach it,”

“I highly doubt he doesn’t know,” Kylo said, leaning back on the couch, finishing the last bite of his doughnut. 

“I thought you said you didn’t tell him,”

“I didn’t, but he’s resourceful. He’s got eyes and ears everywhere. It wouldn’t surprise me if he did know,” 

Kylo’s indifference struck Rey, and she took a second to consider it. Did Kylo really think that Snoke had ways of finding out? And if he did know, what exactly did Kylo believe he would do with that information. What had Kaydel said? _If Kylo told him about the blackmail, he would probably turn it into a PR stunt; he’s exploitive._ She knew that if Kylo thought for a second that Snoke had played any part in his blackmail, that he wouldn’t be treating the thought with such impassiveness. He would have paraded into her office days ago and demanded she focused on his agent. Still, it was something to think about. 

“Let’s go with the assumption that he doesn’t. I don’t want to go storming in and announcing that I’m investigating the blackmail and risk spooking anyone at your agency that might be involved,”

“Okay. Well, I was thinking…” He trailed off, seeming unsure. “There is an awards thing happening on Wednesday night. It’s to recognise the young, new, and up-and-coming talent in the film industry. I guess it is part awards night, part networking. There will be lots of actors, talent scouts, directors, writers, and producers there. Snoke will be there, along with a few actors I’ve beaten out for roles in the past. I thought you might want to come with me,”

“Come with you?”

Kylo nodded uncertainly, clearing his throat. “I get a plus one, and it would give you the chance to talk to a few people on your list of suspects-”

“I don’t have a list,” Rey interjected.

“-without drawing attention to who you are, or what you’re doing.” 

Rey wasn’t sure attending an awards night with Kylo was the best way to keep her professionalism intact. However, being able to unabashedly observe Kylo interacting with his peers, getting free access to talk to those within his inner circle, that was certainly a compelling selling point. Rey’s silence seemed to unsettle Kylo. 

“The food is pretty decent,” He said after a beat. “ _And_ there’ll be a free bar,”

“Okay, I’ll go.”

“Okay,” 

The boyish smile that graced Kylo’s face prompted an involuntary leap inside Rey’s chest. While it was small, it was bright, encompassing. There had been a vulnerability about him as he asked, an uncertainty that melted her. _Beneath the bravado, he was human just like the rest of us_ , she reminded herself. She honed in on his smile, feeling an illogical need to be the reason he smiled like that more often. _Shut it down, Rey._

“I had a look at what business’ trade from that building across from The Falcon Hotel.” Rey began, trying to distract herself as she felt her emotions picking at the edges of the barrier she had erected in her mind between her and Kylo. “There’s an accountancy firm, an insurance firm, a few startups and a floor which is currently unoccupied.”

Kylo looked over at her with interest. 

“I’m going to go check it out at my lunch on Monday, see if I can get any information about the owner, maybe have a look at CCTV footage,” she continued. 

“I’ll come with you,” Kylo asserted.

“No offence, but I need to go in there under-the-radar,” she started, an apology playing on her lips. “Kylo Ren and inconspicuous are not two things that go together,”

Kylo sighed heavily, his face hardening. “You can’t go in there alone.” He hadn’t raised his voice, but Rey could hear the snap in it. “What if the photographer is there? What if something happens?” 

“If you’re not at the hotel, they have no reason to be there, do they?” Rey retorted.

Kylo huffed. 

“Besides, like I keep telling you, I can take care of myself,”

“At least let me take you,” he acquiesced.

“And what if our shameless bellboy, DJ, sees you and contacts your blackmailer?”

“Okay, fine.” He sulked. “I just don’t like the idea of you going in there on your own,”

He was worried. Rey could hear it in his voice. She wasn’t sure how to articulate that this would be a piece of cake compared to some of the significantly more daunting situations she had found herself in the past. “Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll phone you once I’m safely back at work,” she offered, trying to pacify him.

“Fine,” 

“Great.” Silence filled the room, and Rey found herself looking around her apartment, searching for something to say. As her eyes fell on the clock, she panicked, remembering Poe had claimed her for drinks that evening. “Listen, I’m meeting a friend for drinks tonight, so I should probably go get ready,”

“Yeah, I should head anyway,” He said glancing at a bulky, expensive-looking watch that sat beneath the sleeve of his jacket. 

They made their way to the front door, and Kylo passed through it quickly as Rey opened it. He hesitated just beyond the threshold and looked back over his shoulder at Rey, a pensive look in his eye. “Why didn’t you tell Finn about the other pictures? The pictures of you?”

Rey’s hand stilled on the door, holding it to her like a shield. “Because,” she began, keeping her voice steady, her tone matter-of-fact. “He would have worried,”

Kylo turned all the way around to face her, a question playing on his lips, but he didn’t utter a word. 

“Besides,” she continued. “Like I said yesterday, those photographs make us look like more than we are. I didn’t want Finn to get the wrong impression,” 

“And what impression is that, Rey?” his deep voice silky as the air around them grew thick. 

Rey looked him square in the eye, grasping tightly onto the door handle, trying her best not to notice the sensations his deep timbre elicited throughout her body. “The wrong one,” she said as she closed the door on his heated gaze.

* * *

  
Rey had woken with a sore head that morning, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. Apart from Saturday, she had had a relaxing weekend. She had used Sunday to switch herself off and give herself a break from her mind’s unfortunate ability to mull over every detail of her work obsessively, and now Kylo’s blackmail. Rey had soaked in a bubbly tub the night before and let her mind drift. However, she found herself becoming exceedingly disgruntled, because no matter where she started, her thoughts always seemed to land on Kylo. On his childlike, crooked smile. On the daydream, she had had in her office. On the memory of how his tongue had felt inside of her. It was becoming undeniably difficult to deny the desire that was building up inside of her, bubbling away, waiting to explode out of her. And yet, she was trying her best to keep it buried out of her reach. 

Rey stood outside a grandiose building, craning her neck as she looked up at twenty floors of glass. Its curved, convex outline was cutting against the backdrop of the city. The sound of her heels hitting marble echoed around her as she entered the lobby. The light from outside dazzling the room as it hit off the sleek tiled walls of whites and greys. Large, protruding plants the only pop of colour to be seen. Rey walked towards the reception desk, which sat just off centred from the door and was manned by an immaculately made-up young woman who sat in front of a water wall, the sound of which created a serenity which was more suited to a spa than the lobby of an office building. 

The young woman smiled politely at Rey as she approached her desk, subtly smoothing down the front of her light grey blazer as she stood to greet her. “Hi there, how can I help?” 

“Hi, my friend works at the accountancy firm on the twelfth floor and happened to mention that there is some unoccupied office space in his building and I was just wondering if there was any chance I could take a look or get the information of the seller,”

“Are you Jason’s friend?” She asked brightly. “He said he had a friend who was looking for some office space,”

Rey couldn’t believe her luck. “Yes,”

“I’m Julia,” The young woman said, extending a hand to Rey over her marble desk. 

“Abby,” Rey lied, shaking Julia’s hand with a smile. 

“This building is great to work in. There is an on-site gym and swimming pool which all occupants and their staff have access to. Plus, the building has a catering team, which your company will be able to take advantage of for a small fee, which I highly recommend because their food is to die for,” 

Rey wondered if Julia had ever considered a career in sales or marketing. 

“I’ll just need to make you a visitor’s pass, and then I’ll take you up to have a look around,” Julia swiped a pass card which said ‘visitor’ in big, bold letters, before attaching it to a lanyard and handing it to Rey. “You can’t get anywhere without one of these,” Julia picked up a set of keys and walked around her desk to meet Rey. She led Rey past the security gates, clicking them through with one swipe of her own keycard, and towards the elevator. 

“How long has it been unoccupied?” Rey asked, adopting a tone of curious indifference.

“It’s been about a year now,”

“Really? Jason said he had seen someone coming and going from that floor and wasn’t sure if they had rented it already or whether they were still considering,” 

“Well, there has been someone renting the space for about four months now, although,” she leaned into Rey conspiratorially as they entered the elevator bus. “Between you and me, the owner would prefer a longer-term tenant. Someone who will utilise the space to grow their business, not someone who comes for a couple of hours every couple of weeks,” 

Rey mirrored Julia by arching a judgemental brow, imagining that Abby would be the type of person who gossips at the water cooler and speculates over people’s private lives. “Why would he rent it if he wasn’t planning on using it?”

“Honestly, we’ve been asking ourselves the same question.” Julia pressed the button for the sixteenth floor, scanning her keycard on a panel just above the control panel. “At first we thought he was just taking his time getting moved in, or waiting for permission to get the place refurbished and fitted. It does need _a lot_ of TLC that floor,” Her eyes widened as if she had just remembered she was talking to a prospective new tenant and hurriedly tried to backpedal. “It is a great space though,” 

Rey was grateful that Julia had been on the reception desk this afternoon. Grateful that she was so forthcoming, grateful that she was obviously trying her best to sell the building to Jason’s friend, Abby, dropping pockets of useful information as she did. “It seems a bit weird,” 

“You’re telling me,” Julia exclaimed. “Word on the grapevine is that the owner isn’t planning on extending his tenancy once his six months are up and who could blame her?” 

“Have you ever met him?” Rey inquired.

“No, but I see him walking in and out with his creepy duffel bag, always wearing that ridiculous black hoodie, not bothering to spare me a glance. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat a receptionist,” The elevator stopped at the sixteenth floor with a ding, the doors opening unceremoniously. 

Julia had been right. It was a great space; it made Rey’s office floor look small in comparison. The floor was dusty, wires were hanging from the ceiling and abandoned planks of wood against one side of the room. It badly needed renovating, Rey imagined it would cost quite a lot to make it match the illustrious interior of the rest of the building. Light poured in through the windowed walls, and Rey found herself drawn to a small desk and chair that sat in front of the window on the left side of the room. 

“It’s huge,” Rey commented when she realised Julia had been watching her expectantly. 

“I know it’s great, isn’t it? It has so much potential. The toilets are just down that corridor there, and there is a little kitchenette and break room area beyond them,” 

Julia was being incredibly friendly and helpful, but Rey needed time alone on this floor, time to investigate. Rey pulled out a measuring tape that she had packed in her laptop bag this morning just in case she might need it. 

“Is it okay if I have a look around and take some measurements?” 

“Of course! I have to go back down to the desk to man the phones, but please, take your time, and if you have any questions, you know where I am,”

“Thanks, Julia,” 

Julia smiled at her before heading back to the elevator. Rey stayed rooted where she was until she saw that the elevator had deposited Julia back on the ground floor. She turned around scanning the storey but honed in on the small desk that sat by the window. Walking over to it, she kept a critical eye on her surroundings, surveying every step, looking for anything that seemed out of place. As she approached the area near the desk, she saw that the dust on the floor was disturbed. Layers of large, monotonous footprints danced over the floor, each less discernible than the one before. They led from the chair to the window. Back-and-forth. Back-and-forth. A routine, a ritual. Rey walked past the desk to the window and immediately looked over to the hotel across the way. 

Rey took out her DSLR camera, with the new telephoto lens she had purchased the day before and pointed it towards the hotel. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes fell on the hotel room she had been in with Kylo the week before. She took several photographs, each from slightly different heights and slightly different angles. Rey let the camera hang from the strap around her neck as she pulled out one of the blackmail photographs. She lifted the camera in her right hand and looked at the pictures she had just taken on the small LED screen at the back, comparing them to the blackmail photo in her left. 

“It’s a match,” she mumbled to herself. “They were taken here,” The angles of those two pictures, the quality, they were a perfect match. She had crouched down to take this photograph, realising that she stood on the sixteenth floor and the hotel room had been on the fifteenth. Even with the difference in levels, the windowed walls of each building allowed a perfect view. Rey’s body shuddered involuntarily. She couldn’t explain it, but now that she knew for sure that she was standing exactly where Kylo’s stalker had stood, standing where someone had watched and waited for the moment Kylo was at his most vulnerable, the room suddenly unnerved her. It felt darker somehow, like a thick, heady fog that the afternoon light couldn’t penetrate. 

Rey looked down, away from the photographs when something on the ground caught her eye. There were three circles which sat a few inches apart from each other and made up the shape of a triangle. Each ring shone through the grime of the building site and showed the light wooden floorboards that sat beneath. A tripod, the photographer had used a tripod. Rey stuffed the blackmail photo back into a zipped compartment in her shoulder bag and used her camera to take a photograph of the circles, along with the footprints and the desk. She walked over to the table and was dismayed, yet unsurprised that there was nothing identifiable on the table, just a few miscellaneous objects: some blank paper, a pen, a handgrip strengthener, a crumpled up business card which was unreadable thanks to multiple coffee stains and a plethora of empty food containers. Rey took photographs of all of them. 

* * *

Rey had rushed back to work, painfully aware of how late she was. After taking photographs of the office space, the elevator, the security gates and pocketing her visitor’s keycard, she had asked Julia if she could talk to the security team. It was only when Rose had phoned her in a panic that Rey realised she had been there for over an hour and a half and was fifteen minutes away from missing a meeting that she had called. Since returning to work, she had been pulled from meeting to meeting, bouncing from her own team to department heads, to Hux who had insisted on an in-depth rundown of how Rey was going to handle an upcoming press conference. By four o’clock, she was exhausted and couldn’t wait to get back to her office, slump in her chair and have a cup of tea. 

Upon observing Rey’s laboured walk towards her office door, Rose stood abruptly and announced. “Chocolate! You need chocolate,” 

Rey managed a lazy smile. “My saviour,” 

“You have-”

“Nope,” Rey cut her off. “Any messages or phone calls or meetings can wait until I’ve had a cup of tea,” 

“But-” Rose tried again.

“No buts. Only tea and chocolate,”

“Okay,” Rose drawled, with an expression that Rey didn’t have the energy to place. 

She walked into her darkened office, closing the door behind her. The motion sensors clicked as she began to walk to her desk, and the room suddenly filled with a blinding light. Rey felt herself jump out of her skin as her weary eyes registered a brooding figure leant against her desk.

“Jesus Christ, Kylo!” she exclaimed, clutching a hand to her chest as adrenaline punched it’s way around her body, papers crumpling in her hand as she did. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!” 

“You didn’t phone,” he said simply, his lips pulled into a thin line. 

“I know, I’m sorry.” She said through hard, panting breaths. “I was late getting back to work and have been stuck in meetings all afternoon,”

“I was worried when you didn’t answer your phone,” His voice clipped. 

Rey, who had managed to compose herself enough to walk over to her and file away her crumpled notes, stilled at the protectiveness in his voice, the anxiousness. She turned to him. He had a presence about him that seemed to fill any room he was in. It was commanding. Authoritative. But there was a vulnerability behind that confidence, and the more time she was spending with him, the more she was finding herself exposing that vulnerability. From the look in his eyes, she could tell that his worry had been slowly morphing into anger the longer he went without any communication from Rey. 

“I know I said I would let you know I was safe, and I’m sorry that I didn’t. But you didn’t need to worry. I’m fine,” Rey said with a calming smile, hoping that he would accept her apology and they could move on. 

“Didn’t need to worry? Are you serious?! You shouldn’t have gone there alone. You could be in danger, or are you conveniently forgetting that they’ve been watching you too? What if they’re still following you? What if you’ve just revealed our hand by going there?” 

Rey thundered over to him, her nostrils flaring. “You really _do_ think I’m an amateur, don’t you?” She stopped mere inches away from him, straightening herself to be as tall as she could and bore her eyes into his manically. “Of course I considered I was still being followed, which is why I took two taxis instead of my car, why I…” Rey pushed past him, to get to her bag on her desk and pulled out a long blonde wig and thrust it onto his chest. “...wore a disguise and used a decoy to throw them off.” She backed away from him, suddenly needing space from him, trying her best not to let her anger overpower her. “I’m not an idiot, Kylo. I don’t know what I have to do to prove to you that I am good at my job, but I know what I am doing, and I can handle myself. So unless you can accept that in the next minute, you can get the hell out and find someone else to save your ass.”

Kylo stood in stunned silence. Rey, who felt like there was steam emanating from her ears, walked around her desk and sat in her chair, angrily typing on her keyboard to bring her sleeping computer back to life. She ignored the fact that Kylo had turned to stand right in front of her desk, his looming presence casting a shadow which darkened the pages that sat atop her desk, just like he had darkened her mood. 

“Look,” he began, his voice softening. “I was worried. I didn’t mean to go off on you,”

Rey let out a long breath. “The next time you’re worried, how about you say ‘hey, are you okay? I was worried’. Don’t be a dick about it,” She couldn’t keep the disdain from her voice, couldn’t hide the temper that was taking a long time to subside.

“I guess being a dick just comes naturally,” 

Rey knew he was trying to lighten the mood by referencing something she had said to him previously, and normally that crooked smirk and ghost of a dimple would weaken her resolve. Still, she wasn’t going to entertain it, not without an apology. She hit him with a frosty glare, before focusing her gaze back on her computer screen.

“I’m sorry, Rey. I’ll do better, I promise,” He pleaded with a meaningful voice. 

Rey was silent for a couple of beats, her dulled eyes fixed in front of her. She may have been looking at her computer screen, but her mind was elsewhere. This wouldn’t work if Kylo didn’t trust her one-hundred percent, if he didn’t think she was capable. Once she looked beyond her outrage, she knew that his anger, his worry, it stemmed from his inability to protect her. From his panic over this elusive presence that entangled danger into their lives. From his guilt at putting a target on her head. Kylo was impulsive, she had gleaned that much from stories of him in the press. He pounced on his rage, let it consume him before he properly digested the facts in front of him. And the facts were: he had told her he had been anxious about her going to that building alone, she had gone anyway under the stipulation that she call and let him know when she was safely back at work, which she didn’t do. He was within his rights to worry. However, he was not within his rights to act like a neanderthal.

“Pinky?” She finally said, after what she imagined was an excruciating silence for him. 

“What?”

“Pinky promise,” Rey said seriously.

“Oh, right,” Kylo uttered, simultaneously understanding, and not quite understanding. “Sure. Pinky promise,”

“Okay.” Rey allowed some lightness back into her tone, trying her best to expel her annoyance, though still feeling moderately defensive. “Well, I accept your apology, but I reserve the right to be pissed off at you for the next few hours,”

“That seems fair,”

“Are you going to sit down so I can tell you what I found? Or are you gonna stand there like an awkward ass?”

“Sitting,” 

Rey proceeded to fill Kylo in on her excursion to the office building across from The Falcon Hotel. She showed him the pictures that proved definitively that that empty floor was where the photographs were being taken, and let him know what the receptionist, Julia, had said about its current tenant. 

“You can’t get past the lobby or even use the elevator without a keycard. Frank said that they-”

“Who’s Frank?” Kylo interrupted.

“Frank is the head of the building’s security,” Rey explained. He had been lithe for his age and from their brief conversation, Rey could tell that Frank took his job very seriously. “He actually reminded me of your Uncle Luke,” she commented offhandedly. 

“Was he a stubborn, judgemental ass too?” He had made it sound like a joke, but there was a hard look in his eye that told Rey it was anything but. 

“I was thinking of his hair and beard...” Rey trailed off, unsure how to unpack this. Leia’s voice suddenly thrust into her head ‘ _Let’s just say that Luke is not the right person for the job_ ’. Rey had naively assumed that the explicit content of the photographs was why Luke hadn’t been the right person for the job, but now she realised there was an underlying issue between him and Kylo. Something deeply rooted. Something that had been rotting away at their relationship for years. Rey contemplated Kylo and watched as he shifted uncomfortably at her scrutiny. 

“So, you were saying about the keycards,” Kylo was shifting focus away from his relationship with Luke, and Rey let him. 

“That place is like a fortress. Each keycard is programmed only to allow access to your company’s floor and the communal areas on the ground floor. Only the security team and owner have access to the entire building.” Rey had taken her visitor’s keycard out of her pocket and was turning it round in her hand. “Frank told me the lobby alone has ten cameras, although I only counted six,”

“Did the great detective, Rey Niima, miss something?” 

Rey glared at him, his smugness infuriating. “They must be well hidden,” 

“Must be,” Kylo smirked. 

“There are cameras in the entryway of every floor, although Frank happened to mention that the camera on the sixteenth floor had been disabled and that they were waiting for someone to come out to fix it. Apparently, that is the third time it has broken in three months, and the building’s owner doesn’t seem to be in any rush to get it fixed,” Rey said in the same speculative, suspicious way Frank had when he had told her in his office that afternoon.

“And how exactly did you manage to find that out?”

“ _I_ didn’t. _Abby_ , a friend of Jason’s from the accountancy firm on the twelfth floor, did.” Rey clarified, a sickly sweet smile plastered on her face. 

Realisation prickled over his face, an amused grin stifling a chuckle. “The wig,”

“The wig,” she repeated.

“So, what else did Abby find out?” 

“That their system keeps the CCTV footage for two months before it is deleted,” she said pointedly.

“You think we’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the guy coming-and-going?” Kylo looked eager, hopeful.

Rey nodded. “I’m hoping I can get Finn to work some of his hacking magic. Although,” she drew out the word, elongated it to punctuate her ambivalence. “Someone this organised, you’ve got to assume that he knows exactly where the cameras are,”

“So, you don’t think we’ll get a picture of him?” Disheartened, his brown eyes went gooey.

“I don’t think we’ll get a picture of his _face_.” She said, trying to rally him. “But, there are so many cameras in that lobby, one of those angles is sure to have captured _something_ we can use. A bag, a jacket, a logo, something identifiable we can use to find him. I don’t think the photographer is the blackmailer, I think he is just another lackey, but one thing I am sure of is that if we find the photographer, we find the blackmailer,” 

Rey found herself drawn to the keycard again. Something about that building was nagging her. It had a ten-man security team, a plethora of CCTV cameras with security locks and gates in every nook and cranny. It just seemed excessive for a building that housed accountancy and insurance firms. Either the owner, who Rey now realised neither Frank nor Julia had mentioned by name, was incredibly paranoid or things weren’t as they seemed. 

“What is it?” Kylo asked after a beat, his deep brown eyes glittering up at her inquisitively. 

“Hmmm?” Rey was pulled from her thoughts, but her eyes were stuck on the keycard.

“You’re making that face you make when something is niggling at you,”

“I make a face?” She asked, a little bemused. 

“Yes,” Was all he said and yet, he was looking at her so intensely, she felt like he could see right through her. It unnerved her how transparent she felt around him. 

She coughed. “Doesn’t it seem strange to you, that a building owner who is so security conscious would procrastinate over investigating and fixing a camera which has been disabled multiple times within three months?” 

“Well, when you put it like that,” 

“Something doesn’t add up,” she expressed distractedly. 

Her office phone rang unceremoniously, startling them both out of their brooding. Rey looked over at it and seeing Rose’s name on the caller ID picked up the receiver. “Rose?”

“I know you said to hold your calls, but Finn is on line one,”

“Is it work or personal?” She asked, throwing Kylo an apologetic glance.

“He said both?”

Rey knew Rose would have peppered him with questions to distinguish whether she should put him through or not and from the frustration that laced her friend’s voice, she knew that Finn had kept his intentions quiet. 

“Okay, put him through. Thanks, Rose.” 

“Rey, have you got time before you leave to talk? I got that information you wanted,” Finn’s voice was unsure, tentative as his voice spurred to life through the phone. She could hear him taking care of the words he used and knew he was worried about being overheard. 

“Yeah, why don’t you meet me in my conference room in ten minutes?”

* * *

Rey and Kylo relocated to the conference room minutes later, and before they uttered a word, Rey had used her RF scanner and infrared torch to check for listening devices or cameras. She had recently gotten into the habit of carrying them with her wherever she went, checking her office, the conference room and her flat regularly. Rey wasn’t paranoid as such, but she didn’t want to get caught off guard either. She would do what she needed to do to make sure that the places she felt the safest were secure. 

Finn arrived at the office, and except for a hello to Rey and a surprised nod to Kylo, he got straight into it with no preamble. “So the email address is a dead end,” He said as he placed his laptop onto the table, opening it up. “They used an overseas proxy, and there’s no way to trace it. But I enhanced that photograph, I won’t bore you with the details, but I applied an enhanced-resolution pixel algorithm to scale up the reflection on the window, and I got something.” He turned the laptop round to face them. 

Rey and Kylo were confronted with the hazy outline of the photographer and his camera. The focal point of the original image seemed blurry, distorted, but Rey recognised it instantly. She recognised the muscular expanse of his shoulders, the bulge of his biceps as he grasped tightly onto Kaydel’s blonde braids, the look of ecstasy on his face as he grunted out in pleasure while he used Kaydel’s mouth. She could feel a stirring inside of her as she imagined that it was her in the photograph with Kylo and not Kaydel. Rey straightened herself in her seat, trying to push the thought, and her body’s instant reaction to it, out of her mind. Although sensing Kylo’s fervent eyes on her, she felt heat creep up her neck and onto her cheeks.

“Do you see it? Just there.” Finn pointed out a dark mark on the laptop screen. “It’s the ghost of a tattoo on his right arm,”

Rey cocked her head, squinting her eyes to try and get a clearer view. “It kind of looks like it could be tribal,”

“Whatever it is, the design is dark and bulky. I reckon there aren’t that many photographers in the city with a tattoo like that one,” Finn said in a proud voice. 

Rey watched as Kylo had trouble finding the right words. He opened and closed his mouth several times before opting to stay quiet. This was their first solid lead on the photographer, an identifier. Something tangible that they could use as confirmation when the time came.

“Now, the metadata, that was a bit more tricky to come by. The photographer used an AES encryption algorithm which basically deletes the metadata and embeds it into the photograph itself. It needs an encryption key to encrypt and decrypt - without the key, it’s just reams and reams of digital noise. I imagine the photographer uses it as a copyright measure.” He turned the laptop back around to face him, typing something on it quickly. “Once I figured out how to duplicate the encryption key, all the data was there. I’ve put it all in a word document - which I’ll print for you - so you can peruse it at your leisure. The main information to take away from it is that we now have a camera make and model, as well as GPS coordinates of where the photographs were taken,” 

The camera they are looking for is a Canon EOS RD with a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x super-telephoto lens. While the model didn’t say anything to Rey specifically, she knew it was highly likely with a bit of sleuthing, it would lead her to their man. The GPS coordinates placed the photographer in The Falcon Hotel, which only confirmed what Rey had discovered earlier that afternoon. Her theories were now facts, breathing new life into the investigation. She felt like they were on the cusp of something, that with a bit more digging they would finally have one piece of the mysterious puzzle. 

“Listen, I need to get back,” Finn said with urgency as he glanced at the time on the wall clock, already packing away his laptop and heading towards the door. “I have a few things that I need to finish up before five o’clock,”

“Okay,” Rey got up and walked with him to the door. “Thank you so much for your help, Finn,”

“Yes, thank you,” Kylo reiterated with a grateful nod, following Rey’s lead.

Finn stopped before he reached the door to the conference room. “Have either of you considered replying to one of the emails?

Rey and Kylo turned to each other, their faces a mirror image. Surprise and confusion danced around their features as they wordlessly questioned each other. 

“No,” Rey replied honestly, because neither of them had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone excited for what the next chapter will bring? Because I am. 
> 
> Let me know what you think. 
> 
> Come force me to be better at twitter.  
> @a_littlelesscon


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello gorgeous people <3
> 
> I'm sorry, but how is it the middle of October already?! I hope you have all been keeping safe and healthy. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who commented, bookmarked, subscribed and left kudos on my last chapter. It makes it all worth it to know that people are enjoying it. I know it won't seem like much to most people, but my story reached over 1k views and 100 subscriptions and I am over the moon! I never imagined that my first fanfiction would reach so many people. You wonderful strangers are helping me become more and more confident in my writing and I hope you will see a lot more stories from me in the future. 
> 
> This chapter is unbeta'd at the minute, so there may be changes done to it later, but I'll let you know.
> 
> Apologies for the long delay, real-life and my health really got in the way. I've already started chapter five to make it up to you.
> 
> Anyway, here's chapter four - full disclosure, I should have really split this chapter into two...
> 
> Kat <3   
> [twitter: @a_littlelesscon]

Rey, Kylo and Finn hovered at the conference room door with equally thoughtful expressions on their faces. 

“I think you should consider it,” Finn continued. “This person, whoever they are, has so far planned everything out meticulously: the hotel surveillance, the e-mail address, the photographer. There is no way they haven’t already got a response planned out. It would be interesting to see what they had in mind for your reply,”

Rey looked over at Kylo, to find him already watching her. His dark eyes fixed on hers expectantly. “I hadn’t wanted to consider it in case it encourages any other illicit behaviour, but Finn has a point. Maybe we should think about it,” She said to Kylo.

“Maybe,” Kylo was running a finger over his bottom lip, deep in thought. 

“Listen, I should get going,” Finn declared, glancing at his watch. “But call me and let me know if I can help with anything else,” 

Finn left the conference room in a hurry, and Rey turned to Kylo. “What are you thinking?”

“I think that someone has gone to a lot of trouble to find something to blackmail me over,” He paused for a moment, drawing his lips into a thin line. “And I’m just worried about how much trouble they plan on going to, just to get to me,”

Rey took him in. He didn’t seem scared or anxious. His face was a mask of stoicism, his voice neutral and Rey wondered where Kylo thought this ordeal would end because right now, even she wasn’t sure. “We have time, Kylo. And we have leads. We’ll get them,” 

He only nodded. “Actually, I should get going too,”

“Of course,” Rey said, opening the door and showing him out.

Kylo strode out of the room with purpose, propping up the collar of his black leather jacket before pulling a black ball cap out of the back pocket of his denim jeans and placing it on his head. “So, Wednesday then?” 

“Wednesday,” Rey confirmed, giving him a small smile. 

Kylo returned her smile and Rey watched as he walked out of the office. 

“So, what’s happening on Wednesday?” 

“Jesus, Rose!” Rey startled as Rose appeared at her shoulder, an impish look on her face. 

“Well?” 

“He wants me to go to an awards thing with him,” Rey told her as they walked into her office, feigning nonchalance. 

“Kylo Ren wants you to go to an awards night with him, does he?” Rose grasped the back of the chair that sat in front of Rey’s desk and raised her eyebrows at Rey knowingly. Rey could practically feel Rose’s excitement radiating off of her. 

Rey groaned inwardly. “Stop that. He’s just a client,” 

“A very _hot_ client,” Rose asserted, with a challenge in her eye. 

“Leia asked me to do her a favour,” Rey said by ways of an explanation, both of them acutely aware that Rey having clients as prolific as Kylo Ren was not a regular occurrence. 

“And I suppose it doesn’t hurt that he looks like he has just walked out of a nineteenth-century painting and stares at you like he wants to devour you?” 

“Don’t you have work to do?” Rey asked, trying to avoid thinking too much on Rose’s comments about Kylo.

“Oh, yes, lots. My boss is a bit of a tyrant.” She said with a wide smirk. Rey rolled her eyes at her and shook her head. “What are you going to wear?” 

“What am I going to wear?” 

“To the awards night,” Rose exclaimed in a way that made it evident that Rey should be following her train of thought. “It’ll be a fancy affair, black tie if I had to take a guess,” 

Rey hadn’t thought about the dress code. She was so focused on the chance to meet Kylo’s agent and the puppy-dogged expression Kylo had had on his face when he’d asked her, that she hadn’t seen past her answer. Rey wasn’t sure she owned anything that would be suitable for an awards night, or at least a movie industry awards night, and it must have shown on her face. 

“Right, that’s it. We’re going dress shopping tomorrow,” 

Rey opened her mouth ready to protest, but Rose had seen it coming from a mile away. 

“I’m not taking no for an answer. We can take a long lunch, get you a dress, go for food and you can tell me all about your secret meetings with Kylo Ren...or should I say, _Ben Solo_?” 

Rey blanched. _Of course Rose knew_ , she thought to herself frustratedly, and yet a little relieved. Rey knew trying to keep anything from Rose would be difficult. It wasn’t just that Rose was one of Rey’s best friends or her assistant, it was that Rose had this uncanny ability to observe the finer details of a situation, to read a room and knew instantly how to manoeuvre around it accordingly. Like Finn, she had an affinity with technology, but unlike Finn, Rose tended only to utilise those skills out of necessity or in her workshop at home. “How long have you known?” 

“I’ve had my suspicions for a few days, but when he showed up at your office today, that confirmed it,” 

“That doesn’t prove anything, I have client meetings here all the time,” Rey wasn’t sure why she was backpedalling, but she went with it. 

Rose hit her with a blank expression. “Well firstly,” she said as she walked around and sat herself down in the chair. “I recognised his voice from when he phoned here last week as _Ben Solo._ ” Rose raised her eyebrows in a way that was sassier than Rey thought she was capable of. “And secondly, he came to the office - looking a bit frantic - demanding to see you. When I told him you were in a meeting, he sat in your office and waited for you...for over an hour,” 

Rey could feel her mouth forming a small ‘oh’ and watched as Rose leant back in her seat, arms out with a smug, knowing smirk on her face. Kylo had been in her office for over an hour? There was a small part of her that suddenly regretted shouting at him earlier, and yet a larger part of her that began to feel her defensiveness igniting again. 

“Are you still going to sit there and say he is _just_ a client,” 

“He _is_ just a client,” Rey said testily. 

“Uh-huh. Sure,” Rose folded her arms over her chest, exuding a self-righteousness which reminded Rey of Poe. 

“Look, I’m helping him with something. That’s all you need to know right now,”

“But you’ll tell me everything when you can, right?” Rose looked over at her with a seriousness that glazed over her hopeful eyes. 

“Yes,” Rey acquiesced. Rey could tell from the doe-eyed expression on Rose’s face, that she would happily settle for mere glimpses of the truth, of meagre hints to what was going on, because, in reality, Rey knew the only details Rose wanted to know, were the ones that indicated if Rey was okay or not. 

“Okay, well, I better get back to work before my tyrant boss starts shouting at me,” 

They shared a snigger as Rose left her office and Rey let out a heavy sigh. Keeping this from her friends was more challenging than she thought. 

* * *

  
Tuesday came and went without much fuss. Rose had been true to her word and dragged Rey around three shops during their lunch break before they finally settled on a dress that made them both beam with delight. 

“Kylo’s jaw is going to hit the floor when he sees you in that tomorrow,” Rose had said as they sipped coffee and munched on cakes in a cafe across the street from their office building. 

“The dress isn’t for Kylo,” Rey had rebutted. 

“No, but he’s still going to want to rip it off of you the first chance he gets,” 

Rey had only shaken her head at Rose and sipped on her coffee, but now, standing in front of her mirror, looking at the plunging neckline, the cutout at her waist and the way it fell gracefully off of her hips, she knew Rose had been right. Rey often thought of the way Kylo’s eyes had greedily taken in the sight of her cleavage that day in the hotel and wondered now what his reaction would be when he saw her in this. A horn tooting outside alerted her that it was time to leave. 

Kylo had arranged for a town car to collect Rey and take her to the hotel that would be hosting the awards afterparty. He had phoned her the night before to discuss logistics and a game plan to get them through the evening without raising suspicion amongst his friends and colleagues. The car pulled up at the side entrance of the hotel, avoiding the commotion of the red carpet at the main entrance and the mirage of flashing lights from intrusive paparazzi. 

“Thank you,” Rey said to the placid, yet menacing-looking driver. She stepped out of the car carefully, sweeping a loose tendril out of her face as she patted down her dress. Rey opened the door to the side entrance and was momentarily struck as she took in the grandeur of the place. Impossibly high ceilings were ordained with intricate carvings of flowers and angels, which all framed grandiose chandeliers, the likes of which she had never seen before. There was a Victorian feel to the building, a character to it that spoke of its age. It’s aesthetic was illustrious and how Rey imagined a grand manor would be decorated. It was breathtaking—a mural of wealth. 

As Rey stepped further inside, she glanced around the room filled with important-looking people, all dressed to the nines looking impossibly handsome, and she suddenly felt out of her depth. Although, it wasn’t long before that feeling of self-doubt faded and a playful grin replaced it as she spied Kylo on the other side of the room. He was leant against an ornate pillar, looking dapper in his tuxedo as he waited for her, a bored expression clear on his face. Rey walked towards him and cleared her throat to get his attention when she was a few steps away from him. Upon seeing her, Kylo stood up slowly, his mouth agape, his eyes wide. “Will it do?” Rey asked him coyly.

Kylo looked at a loss for words as his dark eyes scanned her up and down. “You’re perfect,” He breathed, then as if realising what he had just said, cleared his throat. “ _It’s_ perfect. The dress. It’s- You… You look good.” 

“Thank you,” Rey tucked a curl behind her ear and looked up at him through her eyelashes, chuckling at his awkwardness. “This place is beautiful,” 

“It’s a bit much for my taste, but yeah, I guess it is,” Kylo was slowly coming back to himself, though Rey caught his eyes lingering on her bare hip. “You ready?” 

“As I’ll ever be,” 

Kylo held out his arm, and Rey took it willingly as she swallowed her nerves and focused on the task at hand. “They rented out the whole hotel for this event. Assigned each of the nominees and announcers their own room.” Kylo informed her as he led her to a vast, dimly lit ballroom. 

There were twinkling fairy lights on the ceiling, giving the illusion they were standing underneath the night sky. Soft music thrummed around the room by a DJ she couldn’t see. There was a bar and a buffet off to one side and a dance floor in the middle of the room, with large, round tables placed sporadically around it. The room was abuzz, groups upon groups of people mingling and schmoozing, all with drinks in their hands. Kylo led her to a rambunctious group in the far corner of the room. 

“There he is.” A dark-haired man with a cocky smile, stepped out from the group to greet them. “We thought you’d disappeared,” 

“You wish,” Kylo retorted, squeezing Rey’s arm before letting it fall, placing a supportive hand on her lower back, escorting her further into the group. “Everyone, this is Rey. Rey, this is everyone,” 

Rey raised a hand awkwardly as she was met with a chorus of ‘hi’s’. A dark-haired man walked over to her and extended his hand. 

“Always so good at introductions, Kylo,” He said, rolling his eyes. “Cardo Wilde,” Cardo gave her hand a gentle shake before he was pushed aside by a young woman with a mop of thick, black curls. 

“His real name is weirder, trust me,” She whispered conspiratorially to Rey, which earned a scoff from Cardo. “I’m Ashley Ushar, this is Kuruk,” Ashley said, gesturing to a tall, pallid man, who had been hovering on the outskirts of the group with a whiskey tumbler in his hand. 

“Joe,” He corrected, his British accent surprising Rey. He was what you would call classically handsome, with his strong jawline, pale blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. There was something familiar about him, but Rey couldn’t place it.

“Tammy should be around here somewhere,” Ashley continued, her brown eyes searching around the room. 

Rey knew that they were actors and actresses, but besides Kylo, she didn’t recognise any of them. “So, you are all represented by Snoke?” she queried. 

“Yep,” Cardo replied. “We’re all one, big, happy family, aren’t we?” He said, putting an arm around Joe’s shoulders, who immediately shoved it off and took a step away from him.

“Apart from Joe,” Ashley sniggered. “Joe is always a grumpy guts,”

“I didn’t think _anyone_ could be grumpier than Kylo,” Rey retorted. 

“Hey!” Kylo exclaimed, looking down at her with mock indignance. 

Ashley and Cardo began to laugh, and even Joe had a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. 

“Here you all are!” 

Rey watched as the group, who had been bantering easily moments ago, all stilled at the raspy voice that greeted them. Kylo and Cardo were the first ones to recover, and both turned, opening the circle to the owner of the voice. 

“Snoke,” Kylo acknowledged with a curt nod. His hands hovering by Rey’s side. 

Snoke as it turned out, was a tall, frail-looking man, with a sunken face and grey skin. He looked like a person who had spent years neglecting himself and it was finally beginning to show. He leered around the group, a little unsteady on his feet. “The 80s had the Brat Pack, I,” he slurred. “I have The Knights of Ren,” Snoke extended out his arms to encompass them all, a slow smile on his face. 

“Please don’t call us that,” Kylo groaned.

“I second that,” grumbled Cardo. 

The tension growing within the group was palpable, though whether Snoke felt it or not, Rey couldn’t tell. “Here she is!” Snoke exclaimed as a short, young woman with blonde hair and large, green eyes approached the group. “Tammy Trudgen: Best newcomer on a TV drama,” 

Tammy bowed her head looking bashful, her plump cheeks beginning to colour as Snoke and the group made a fuss about her. Rey watched as the sudden tautness loosened and their spirits all grew as they celebrated Tammy’s success. There was a strained dynamic between the group, of which Rey was sure Snoke was the engineer, but underneath it all, they were friends—encouraging each other, supporting each other. Rey found it endearing to watch Kylo interact with such ease, to laugh, to joke, to smile with them. Up until now, the interactions she had witnessed him having had been terse and awkward.

“Come on,” Snoke said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “I have some people you should meet,” 

“Poor Tammy is going to be stuck with him all night,” Cardo commented sardonically as Snoke and Tammy disappeared into the crowd.

“We should find a reason to extricate her from him in twenty minutes. Poor thing doesn’t know what she’s let herself into,” Ashley sympathised, sipping on her drink as she eyed the direction Snoke and Tammy had left in.

Rey kept quiet but noted the stress present in Ashley’s eyes, along with the pointed looks that were being shared between the men. She watched as Cardo and Joe exchanged some hushed words, and looked up at Kylo to see him too looking out at the crowd for Snoke and Tammy. _Weird_. Rey knew Snoke had a reputation of being ruthless, but their reactions seemed strange and exaggerated for the situation. Something wasn’t as it seemed among this group and she couldn’t help but formulate theories in her head as to what. 

“So, Rey, how do you know our Kylo here?” 

Rey looked over to see Cardo watching her intently. An intensity radiated from him, which made Rey suspect he had been honed in on her for longer than she realised. 

“And how in the hell did he convince you to come to this thing?” He added, adopting his typical, carefree attitude. 

Rey narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at him and adopted a carefree attitude of her own. “I’m a PR consultant. Kylo contacted me to ask for some advice on how to change his image,” It wasn’t entirely a lie. Rey did do some PR consulting on the side, granted it was generally for small startup businesses, but they didn’t need to know that. “It was actually my idea for Kylo to bring me tonight,” She said, pausing to look up at a stoic Kylo. “I needed to see just how much damage control I needed to do,” Rey smirked wickedly. 

“It’s gonna take one hell of a PR stunt to change _his_ image,” Cardo exclaimed jovially, elbowing Kylo in the ribs. 

“Fuck off, Cardo,” Kylo protested. 

“I’m just saying,” Cardo said with his hands up in surrender, a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Doesn’t stop me from getting jobs though, does it?” Kylo retorted in a puckish manner.

The humour disappeared from Cardo’s expression. “Low blow, Ren. Low blow,”

“Now boys, play nice,” Ashley intervened, rolling her eyes at them before sending an irked look towards Rey. One that reminded her of a mother fed up of dealing with her wayward children. 

After a round of drinks, the group broke apart to do ‘the networking thing’ as Ashley had put it and Rey found herself standing on the outskirts observing the room with a critical eye as Kylo was dragged away by a director he had recently worked with. Rey was nescient about the politics within the film industry. Still, as she stood at the edge of the ballroom and watched as actors, directors, casting agents and writers all weaved around the room, she concluded that it was not unlike the animal kingdom. Predators were scouring to find their prey and waiting for just the right time to pounce, all while hoping that they wouldn’t get eaten alive. 

“These nights have never been my thing,” 

Rey startled and turned to see Joe Kuruk standing awkwardly beside her, keeping a tight grip of the beer in his hand. 

“Me neither,” she confessed. “I thought PR socials were bad,” They shared a snigger before they both fell silent and turned to continue people watching. 

“What do you think of our boy then?” Kuruk asked, pointing his beer in the direction where Kylo stood, surrounded by five eager looking women. “Do you think he is redeemable?” 

“ _I_ think so,” Rey nodded, keeping an attentive eye on him. “It helps that beneath the bad boy image he is a good person,” 

“Yeah, he is,” Joe took a long swig of his beer, and Rey turned to him upon hearing the mournful tone of his voice. 

There was something like regret, a discomfort in his eyes that intrigued Rey. “How long have you known Kylo?” 

“A couple of years. We were in Galaxy Wars together. Snoke poached me not long after the first movie came out,” He spoke with staccato, each sentence seeming forced. 

Rey had sensed he was the quiet, introverted type the moment she met him. She appreciated the effort he was taking in talking to her, but she found herself wondering why he bothered. “You were in Galaxy Wars?” 

“I was a droid, so you’re forgiven for not remembering me,” He laughed stiltedly. Joe shifted, obviously uncomfortable that the attention had turned onto him. “Do you think we should save him?” He asked, raising his eyebrows and jerking his head in the direction of where Kylo stood. 

Kylo, who had exuded his bad boy demeanour not five minutes ago, suddenly looked uncomfortable as the five young women had begun to drape themselves over him, hands pulling at the lapels of his tuxedo. “Probably,” Rey tossed back the last of her drink, placing it on to a passing tray. “It was nice talking to you, Joe.” She said genuinely before she made her way through the crowd towards Kylo. 

Rey approached him from behind, tiptoeing in her heels so she could whisper in his ear. “Do you dance, Kylo?” ‘Something’ by The Beatles began playing, and the dancing floor suddenly seemed to be filled with couples.

Kylo expelled a relieved sigh when he realised it was her. “Not if I can help it,” He said, leaning his head down to her, batting off wandering hands. 

“Come on. Three minutes won’t kill you,” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” He grumbled, though simpered at Rey as she hit him with a blank stare. 

“I _could_ just leave you here at that mercy of your groupies,” She retorted, and with a wicked smirk, began to walk away from him, but was stopped almost instantly by a large hand grabbing her wrist. 

“Fine,” Kylo groaned and kept hold of her wrist until he had disentangled himself and they had walked onto the dancefloor. 

“See, this isn’t so bad, is it?” Rey pulled her head back to look into his eyes as they adopted a dancing embrace. She settled her head back against his cheek and could have sworn she heard Kylo whisper “No, it’s not.”

They swayed together to the music, his chin resting at her temple. Kylo’s arms engulfed her, their strength made her feel weightless, secure, and she found herself never wanting to leave the warmth of them. Just as they were finding their rhythm, Kylo whisked her out into a twirl, before pulling her back into him and dipping her. Their bodies became flush as he slowly brought her back up to him and she revelled in the feeling of it. 

“I thought you said you couldn’t dance,” Rey remarked with a bewildered smile.

“I said I _didn’t_ dance, not that I couldn’t,” He hit her with a smug grin which very nearly took her breath away.

“You are full of surprises, Kylo Ren,” She said slowly, her eyes fixing intensely on him. 

Kylo slid his hand around her waist, reaching the bare skin visible from the cutout of her dress. His fingers slipped beneath the fabric and pulled her tighter into him and she gasped at the contact. “You have no idea,” he whispered huskily. 

Rey felt the swell of the music and the rush of adrenaline in her veins as she saw the affection in his face. The room around them faded away, and suddenly it was just her and Kylo swaying side to side, their faces inching closer and closer together, their gazes sweeping between tender eyes and parted lips. 

“Rey!” 

They both expelled shaky breaths, reluctant to break their moment as the noise of the dancefloor and the cacophony of the crowds around them came hurtling back into their senses. 

“You came!” It was Kaydel’s shouts that interrupted them. Kaydel’s presence that forced Kylo to release his hold on Rey. “You look stunning. Absolutely stunning!” She exclaimed, pulling Rey from Kylo’s grasp and swivelling her around. 

Kylo had pulled his lips into a hard line, irritation coating his robust features, his jaw hardening. 

“Doesn’t she look stunning, Kylo?” Kaydel implored with a wry smile. Something lay between Kylo and Kaydel in their transient silence, friction that Rey was having trouble placing.

“She does,” Kylo admitted after a moment, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards ever so slightly as he turned his attention back to Rey. 

She sent him an affectionate smile in return. “Thank you, Kaydel.” Rey said graciously. “You look beautiful. Your dress is gorgeous.”

“This old thing?” Kaydel said with faux bashfulness, as she made a show of twirling around for them.

“Sorry you didn’t win,” Kylo said curtly, without a lick of sympathy in his voice. However, Kaydel seemed not to notice. 

“Oh, it’s okay. Nothing vodka can’t fix, am I right?” She guffawed forcibly. 

Rey noted that Kaydel seemed like she had already had quite a lot of vodka and it didn’t appear to make the blow any easier to take.

“I was up for the same award as Tammy, you see.” Kaydel clarified for Rey. “I was hoping that if I won, Snoke would have to take a meeting with me and tha- Lukaz!” 

A young, Asian man with brooding eyes and spiky black hair came striding through the crowd towards them. Kaydel in her inebriated state, flung her arms around his neck as he approached them with excited cries of ‘mon petit ami!’.

Kylo and Lukaz exchanged polite, if not curt, nods before Lukaz placed a steadying arm around Kaydel’s waist. “Come on you. I think it’s time we got you home,” He said softly, mouthing apologies to them both before whisking Kaydel away.

Rey could hear her protests over the music as Lukaz swiftly escorted Kaydel from the ballroom. Kylo looked tense, pensive and Rey wished she was back in his arms, that easy smile back on his face. 

“Do you want to get some fresh air?” Rey suggested, placing a hand on his arm to gently bring him out of his reverie. 

“Yes,” He said. Then without another word strode off into the crowd towards the balcony doors that sat at the far edge of the room. 

Rey followed after him, picking up two champagne flutes from a passing tray, taking a long sip of hers as she reached the french doors. They had the balcony to themselves, yet Kylo was leant across the railing of the far side, looking out over the city’s skyline. “Here,” she said, handing him a glass. 

“Thanks,” 

Rey waited a moment, leaning back against the railing, so she was staring at the beautiful flower box arrangements hanging on the wall of the building. “Is everything okay between you two?” 

Kylo let out a sigh. “Things have been a little strained between us since…” he trailed off. 

“Since what?” 

“Since I called off our arrangement,” Kylo kept his body facing out to the city, but when Rey turned to look at him, she could see him watching her from the corner of his eye.

She kept her features schooled, but she couldn’t deny the relief that was spreading throughout her chest at Kylo’s admission. “You did?” 

“Yes. She didn’t take it very well, but since the emails, knowing someone is watching me, it didn’t seem right,”

“And that guy she was with?” She asked, opting not to delve any further.

“Lukaz Ap’lek.” He said, straightening up. “He’s a writer. And from experience, he’s not a good guy,”

 _Ominous_ , she thought to herself. Kylo hadn’t mentioned Lukaz when she had asked if he knew of anyone who might be responsible for the blackmail, yet it was clear that they had had run-ins in the past and that Kylo was perturbed about Kaydel’s involvement with him. “You’re worried about Kaydel,” It was a statement rather than a question. 

Kylo nodded. 

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding, is it?” 

This was the second time that evening that Snoke’s gravelly voice had invaded Rey’s night. She felt her body’s need to shudder, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the night air, or from the lecherous look in Snoke’s eye as she turned towards him. Rey felt Kylo drape a comforting hand on the small of her back. 

“Kylo, you have a press engagement with the Gazette, or did you forget?” He said, his eyes still stuck on Rey. “Don’t worry. I’ll look after your friend,” Snoke extended his rough hand out to her expectantly. 

“Rey,” She told him, plastering a smile on her face as she gave him her hand to shake. 

Instead, Snoke brought her hand up to his whiskery lips and planted a sloppy kiss on it. “Johnson is waiting for you at the bar,” Snoke said, letting go of Rey’s hand.

Kylo walked out from behind Rey. “I won’t be long,” He said, his brooding mask firmly in place. With a wary glance at Rey, Kylo reluctantly walked through the french doors back into the ballroom. 

Rey turned away from Snoke and leant her arms over the balcony, taking a sip from her champagne flute. 

“So, Rey,” Snoke started, mirroring her. “How is it Kylo knows a woman like you?” 

Her defensiveness peaked, but she swallowed it down, knowing that to rise to his misogyny would be to fall into his trap. “A woman like me?” she inquired. 

“Well you don’t exactly run in the same circles, do you?” There was disdain in his voice, or was it arrogance? 

Rey knew he was trying to intimidate her, to rile her. “How do you know we don’t?” Rey countered. 

He clucked, her defiance clearly earning her points. Snoke pulled out a cigarette from a packet in his pocket and lit it with a lighter imbued with a picture of a half-naked lady. He took a draw of his cigarette, closing his eyes as the nicotine hit his system. 

“So, Kylo says you discovered him,” Actually, Kylo hadn’t told her much about his agent. But, upon googling his name, she found numerous interviews where Snoke had bragged about discovering ‘ _the prodigal Kylo Ren’_.

He coughed slightly, wafting smoke away from his face. “It was my friend that found him initially. He was doing a play downtown, I forget what it was, but I went to see it the next night. And he was so...raw, so young - I had to have him.” He took another draw of his cigarette before he continued, smoke escaping from his mouth as he did. “I knew from that first night that Kylo was destined for big things and that _I_ was just the person to guide him in the right direction,” 

Rey wondered if it wasn’t just Kylo’s talent that had drawn Snoke to him, that maybe it had been his naivety and his vulnerability that had made him appealing. He reminded her of some of the men she had dealt with in another life, the ones who thrived on power and surrounded themselves with those they could easily manipulate into doing their bidding. “And have you?” 

Snoke stared at her blankly, his cigarette hanging between his lips.

“Have you guided him in the right direction?” 

“I’d say so, wouldn’t you?” 

Rey took a sip of her drink, the bubbles fizzing inside of her, encouraging her to press on. “Kylo mentioned he’d cancelled a few auditions,” She said offhandedly, mimicking the arrogant air that Snoke seemed always to exude.

His face fell for a fraction of a second, his eyes narrowing at her. “Yes, well, he’ll come to his senses soon enough,”

The possessive tone Snoke used while discussing Kylo discomfited Rey. The way he focused the majority of his attention on Kylo, the way he dubbed his other clients as ‘The Knights of _Ren’_ ; he saw Kylo’s successes as _his_ successes. Rey began to wonder what Snoke would do if he found out that his golden boy was planning on quitting. 

“You’ll find, Rey, that I can be _very_ persuasive,” 

Rey knew Snoke’s type. She knew that the best way to loosen his tongue was to play into his ego, and Snoke’s ego demanded attention, demanded adoration. So, Rey adopted the doe-eyed expression she had seen many actresses make that night; she batted her eyelashes at him flirtatiously and took a slow, seductive sip of her drink, though it pained her to do so. “I have no doubt,” she said with a coy grin. 

Snoke took a step towards her, a lewd and lazy smile dawning his sunken face. He reached out a hand and began to graze her arm with two of his fingers. “You really are a beautiful little thing, aren’t you?” 

Rey desperately fought the urge to cringe away from him, her knuckles turning white as she grasped tightly on her glass. She knew she had to play a part, but she couldn’t stop her defensiveness rearing its ugly head. “Excuse me?” Rey moved away from his touch, observing Snoke as his face contorted into a twisted smile. 

“Everything okay?” 

It was Kylo. She sighed a breath of relief, grateful for his interruption. 

“Oh, yes. We were just getting to know each other better, weren’t we Rey?” 

Rey gave him a tight smile and watched as Kylo stood with furrowed brows assessing the scene in front of him. 

“Johnson wanted to see you, Snoke,” Kylo informed him, his eyes hard as he spoke to his agent.

“Duty calls,” he declared, stubbing out his cigarette on the railing before throwing his stub off of the balcony. “It was lovely to meet you,” And with that, he left them.

“Has anyone ever told you your agent is a creepy bastard?” She asked genuinely. Rey shook herself and willed away Snoke’s leers and the feeling of his rough hands on her skin.

“It’s come up,” He had an apologetic look on his face. Rey wondered if it was his inappropriate touches and suggestiveness that had worried Kylo and his friends when Snoke had taken Tammy away earlier that night. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“You have no idea,” 

Kylo surprised Rey by taking her hand as he negotiated their way through the now raucously inebriated ballroom. They slipped out of the side door of the hotel and Kylo guided them down the alleyway which led to the next street over. He let go of her hand, and they walked side by side down sleeping streets. 

“Why do you stay with him?” Rey asked accusingly, not entirely convinced that Kylo would answer.

“It’s a combination of things,” He began, taking a moment to choose his words. “He took a chance on me. He pretty much gave me my career. I owe h-”

“No, Kylo.” She stopped them both. “You don’t owe him anything. I’ve seen your stuff, you are an _amazing_ actor. You work hard. If anything, you gave him _his_ career.” Rey let her conviction blaze through her eyes, imploring Kylo to listen to her. “Don’t settle for someone like him. You deserve more,” 

A heavy silence fell between them, and Rey wished she could see what was going on in his head. The streetlights cast a luminous hue over them as they stood rooted in front of darkened houses. Rey felt the cold seeping into her bones and cursed herself for not bringing a jacket. She wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes locked on Kylo. 

“You’re cold.” He commented, removing his tuxedo jacket. He walked over to face her and draped it around her shoulders. Kylo used the lapels to wrap the jacket around her, making sure she was completely covered before he settled his hands on her arms and gazed at her with soft eyes. 

“You didn’t have to,” Rey said by way of thanks, a gentle smile on her lips.

“Yes, I did,” 

They started to walk again in amiable silence, and Rey recognised after a while that they were headed in the direction of her apartment; Kylo was walking her home. 

“Can I ask you a question?” 

“Sure,” 

“Why Kylo Ren? You could have had any name in the world, so why that one?” They zigzagged through quiet streets, Rey’s heels echoing in the air around them. 

“I was so angry with my parents. I didn’t want anything to do with them - not even their name. So, when they asked my name at an audition, I said the first thing that came to my head.” Kylo chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “Ironically, Kylo means sky and Ren means ruler. Skyruler,” 

Rey looked at him quizzically, waiting for Kylo to clue her in to the joke. 

“My Mom’s maiden name is Skywalker, and my Dad is a pilot,” He explained. “Even when I want nothing to do with them, I’m still thinking about them.” Kylo sighed sadly, his head down as they continued to walk. 

“What happened between all of you?” She asked. “If you don’t mind me asking,” Rey hastened to add. 

“There was a big fight. We all said things we shouldn’t, and I left.” He muttered after a moment. “Up until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t seen or heard from my parents in years.” There was an edge to Kylo’s voice, a crack that was threatening to break. “You know the twisted part about all of this?” Kylo stopped in his tracks, his eyes emotional in a way Rey had never seen before. “I can’t remember what the fight was about.” 

Rey walked round to face him. Her heart clenched as she looked on to see a tormented man, struggling with the truth. 

“I remember the hurt. I remember the anger and my need to get away from them, but I can’t remember that damned fight. And now-” He stalled, turning his face away from Rey as tears brimmed in his dark eyes. “And now I’m worried I can’t get that time back. That after all this time, I can’t fix what I broke,” 

“Hey,” Rey stepped forward, tugging his large hand with hers, trying to focus his attention on her. “I don’t think it is as broken as you think it is,” She tried to rally him, to soothe his laments. 

Kylo turned back to Rey, his large, mournful eyes questioning her. 

“I’ve worked for you Mom for years, and though she is a fiercely private person, she told me about you. She told me stories and how proud she is of you. Granted, she never told me you were award-winning actor, Kylo Ren…” She trailed off with a smirk, which gained a snort from Kylo. “But when she spoke about you, she talked as though you were still in her life,” Rey added thoughtfully. “She loves you, Kylo. They both do, and they would do anything to prove that to you,” 

A calmness seemed to fall over Kylo, the tears that had been brewing began to dissipate as he swallowed hard. “Thank you, Rey.” He placed a hand on top of hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. 

“Don’t keep pushing them away, Kylo. They need you just as badly as you need them, trust me.” Rey gave him a hard, meaningful look, hoping that he would start to let his guard down and let them in. _Some people aren’t so lucky to have a family waiting for them to come home_. Rey gave his hand one last comforting squeeze before she turned and began to walk again, knowing that Kylo needed a moment to compose himself. It was several minutes later before she heard quickening footsteps behind her and a few more before she felt Kylo’s presence beside her again. They walked the last few blocks in a content silence, and before they knew it, Rey and Kylo had made it to Rey’s apartment complex. Rey risked a glance at him and could swear she saw something like disappointment in his eyes. “Thanks for walking me home,” she said with a small smile, suddenly finding herself feeling shy. 

“Of course,” Kylo’s eyebrows furrowed, his hands deep in his trouser pockets. Rey could see him thinking, could see the cogs turning in his head and she willed him to say aloud the thoughts that were holding him hostage. 

“Okay, well, I’ll see you soon,” She offered, then turned and began ambling up the stairs to the complex door. 

“Rey,” Kylo called after her. 

“Yeah?” Rey held the lapels of Kylo’s suit jacket tight around her shoulders, the night air causing horripilation on her arms. She turned to him and was surprised to find him so close. “Kylo? Wha-?”

Kylo silenced her with a kiss. It was chaste, unsure. Rey had only just closed her eyes when he broke away from her and when she slowly opened them again, her eyes were level with his. Kylo watched her carefully, a question playing in his dark eyes and she knew he was waiting for her reaction. Rey could feel the inevitability of the moment calling her, could feel a string in her chest pulling her to him. She swallowed as her gaze swept down to his lips and back to his eyes. Tonight had felt different, it went beyond attraction, he had opened up to her, let down his walls, and she wanted to do the same for him. So, Rey kissed him.

It was a slow, tender, dizzying kiss that made Rey’s knees feel weak. Kylo framed her face with his strong hands, and she opened her mouth to deepen it, her fingers interlocked around his neck. When they finally came up for air, their breaths were heavy, their eyes locked intently, their bodies flush together. 

“I’ve wanted to do that all night,” Kylo admitted. 

Rey chuckled, realising that Kylo had stolen the very words from her thoughts. 

He chuckled with her before stealing one last kiss. Kylo’s thumb grazed along her cheekbone, his dark brown eyes tenderly caressing her face. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” 

Rey nodded hazily as she smiled up at him. She shrugged off his suit jacket from her shoulders and handed it to him. Rey could feel his hand reluctantly leave her cheek, could see him wanting to say something, but instead, he leant forward and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. 

“Goodnight, Rey,” Kylo said as he left her standing on the stairs of her apartment complex.

“Goodnight, _Sky Ruler_.” She called out after him. The bright, dimpled grin he gave her in reply, made Rey’s insides flutter. 

* * *

Rey had woken with a dreamy smile on her face. The awards afterparty hadn’t been as fruitful as she had hoped in terms of the blackmail, but for the case of Kylo Ren, it had been eye-opening. He had shown her a side of him that she had never seen before. For most of the evening, he had exuded his stoic, playboy Kylo Ren persona, but while they danced, while he walked her home, he had opened himself up in a way she had never expected. He was softer than she had ever imagined, emotional, thoughtful and Rey found herself more drawn to him than ever. He wasn’t what she always thought he was, what the world portrayed him as, and now she knew that that had been deliberate. Kylo Ren was a carefully constructed guise to conceal who he really was. They were more alike than he knew. 

As she walked out of the elevator, her mind firmly planted in the night before. She was so absorbed by her reverie that she didn’t notice that her office floor was gossiping like high schoolers. Nor did she notice that her colleagues immediately fell silent as she walked past their cubicles on the way to her office. Rey had taken her time getting ready for work that morning, allowing herself to swim around in the lightness she felt from the night before. She had lain in her bed and traced her lips with her fingertips, recalling how they had tingled long after Kylo’s lips had left hers. It was the first time in a long time that she hadn’t wanted to go to work. She wanted to stay in her bubble, away from the prying eyes of reality. But reality came in the form of her best friend, Rose Tico, who came bursting through her office, her eyes brimming with incredulity. 

“What happened last night?!” 

“What?” Rey startled, dropping her bag on the ground by her feet at the intrusion. 

“Last night! I need details,” Rose demanded.

“There are no details,” Rey insisted, tugging off her jacket and hanging it over her desk chair. 

“Oh, really?” Rose challenged defiantly. “Because these pictures would suggest otherwise,” Rose held up a newspaper and Rey was confronted with the headline: **HAVE THE STARS ALIGNED FOR KYLO REN AND HIS MYSTERY WOMAN?**

“Oh. My. God.” Rey said slowly in complete disbelief as she took the waiting paper from Rose’s hands. Underneath the headline was an article in the gossip column, framed by three pictures. The first was of Kylo leaning over to Rey as she whispered in his ear, a broad grin on his face. The second was her and Kylo gazing at each other intently, almost adoringly, as they danced on the dancefloor, a couple amongst couples. And the third was of them as they walked home, Rey’s arms wrapped around herself as Kylo draped his suit jacket over her. 

“So, it was a good night, then?” 

“Eh, yeah it was,” Rey answered distractedly. She could faintly hear Rose ploughing her with questions, but Rey was utterly immersed in the photographs. “There weren’t meant to be photographers,” Rey murmured under her breath, remembering Kylo explicitly saying that paparazzi weren’t allowed into the after-party. Although, now that she thought about it, she hadn’t noticed any cameras. Rey brought the paper closer to her face to scrutinise the images. There was a slight fuzziness to them as if they had been taken on a phone that had been zoomed in all the way. It was hard to make out her features from these pictures, her face was barely discernible, and yet it still unsettled her. Whoever had taken them had caught her off guard - they had caught them both off guard. Each picture was of them absorbed in the other, the room around them all but disappeared. _They followed us home,_ she thought worriedly to herself. 

“Rey?!” Rose blasted exasperatedly and shook Rey from her musings.

“Sorry, what?” 

“What happened with you and Kylo last night?” 

Rey lowered the paper and dropped it on her desk, finally looking back at Rose. She didn’t want to tell her. She didn’t want to tell anyone, she wanted to protect her memories of the night before. To lock them away in a box and keep them safe. Rey had already had to fend off an incessant, reproachful voice that swirled around the back of her head warning her not to get too close. She didn’t need someone to say it out loud. Or worse, encourage her. Rey tried to search for something to say that would placate Rose, but her mind was blank. Her escape came in the form of a ringing phone. 

“Isn’t that your phone?” Rey said after a minute, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. 

“You’re not getting out of this _that_ easily,” Rose insisted, as she craned her neck to listen out for her ringing phone. Rey saw the disappointment settle in her face the moment Rose’s ears registered the sound. “Dammit. To be continued!” She exclaimed, shaking a warning finger at Rey before she sweeped out of the office. 

Rey let out a deep, exasperated breath. She took the discarded newspaper in her hands and looked over the article again.

_‘Sources say that they arrived separately, but stayed close for the entire evening. “They looked like a young couple in love,” one source said, claiming that they were the envy of many of the attendees. “They only had eyes for each other - Kylo was smitten.” Could it be true? Could inherent ladies man, Kylo Ren, have found love? Only time will tell.’_

Rey took a seat and set the paper down again. She didn’t know what to think. Had they really looked like a ‘young couple in love’? It was true that they had stayed close for most of the evening, but that had been by design. She loathed to admit that there was a cavernous fluttering in her stomach at the thought that Kylo had looked smitten with her, and an enamoured smile that she couldn’t stop from creeping onto her face. Rey wished that this article didn’t have the power to elicit this sort of reaction from her, but she would be lying if she didn’t admit that she was still riding on the coattails of the thrill of their kiss from the night before.

There was, however, a question that was plaguing Rey. Who was the source? She pictured each of the friends and colleagues of Kylo’s that she’d met the night before, but she couldn’t see any of them being shameless enough to go to the press. Although, she couldn’t say with any confidence that any of them wouldn’t either. It discomfited her that Kylo’s stalker could have been at the awards after-party watching her and Kylo, that there was a possibility that she had interacted with them, smiled with them, joked with them. Rey chewed over the question, repeating it over and over in her head. _Who was the source?_ Had it been someone inconsequential, who saw an opportunity and took it? Or was this another game? Another way of getting to Kylo, of unnerving him? 

“Rey?” Rose’s melodic voice cut through her thoughts, her head popping around the doorway. “That was Hux on the phone, Leia wants to see you in her office,” 

“When?” Rey asked, her mind still deep in the article. 

“Now,” Rose confirmed, before offering Rey a sympathetic smile. 

“Okay, thanks Rose,” _Brilliant,_ Rey thought sarcastically. _I wonder if she saw the article too._

* * *

Rey emerged on the top floor of Organa Industries with sweaty palms. Being summoned to Leia’s office first thing in the morning - without an iota of warning - was not a frequent occurrence and she found herself worried about what to expect. 

“How are you today, Rey?” Hux greeted her as she approached his desk, with what she assumed was supposed to be a playful smile. His desk sat a couple of feet from Leia’s office and was ostentatious in design. Its bulky hardwood didn’t quite match the sleek, modern aesthetic of the rest of the office building. 

“Good, thank you, Hux. How is everything on the twenty-fifth floor?”

“Oh, it’s all go, go, go up here.” He said, standing so he could perch himself on his desk. “Only fourteen days until launch day,” He condescended. 

Hux had a propensity to assume that his floor was always the busiest and hardest working, and Rey found early on that it was best to continue to let him think that way. Otherwise, she would waste too much of her time and more energy than she had to try to convince him that that was not the case. 

“Is she ready for me?” Rey asked, not willing to engage with him before she had had her morning cup of tea. 

“Yeah, right this way,” Hux stewarded her to Leia’s office as though she had never been there before and announced Rey’s arrival to Leia as though they were in a Jane Austen novel. “Rey Niima is here for you,”

“Send her in,” She heard Leia say.

Hux opened Leia’s door wider and escorted Rey inside. “Can I get you anything el-”

“No, that’ll be all, Hux,” Leia dismissed, and when he didn’t leave his post at the entryway, she expanded. “You can close the door on your way out, thank you,” 

Rey stood feeling awkward as Hux nodded at Leia, annoyance clear on his features. He left, closing the door with a little more force than was necessarily needed. 

“That boy thinks because he is my assistant that he has the right to be included in every single meeting I have,” Leia blew out an irritated breath and shook her head before focusing in on Rey. “I’m going to get straight to it, Rey.” She said, looking at Rey over the rim of her thick, black frames, sternness still coating her voice. “Are you sleeping with my son?”

“What? No!” 

Leia took a long moment to consider Rey. She took her glasses off and started to play with the legs as she assessed her. Rey began to feel a mixture of panic and self-consciousness settling within her and nervously began to shift her weight from foot to foot. Leia sat back in her chair, a smile playing on her lips. “Shame,” Leia relented after a few torturous minutes, putting her glasses back on with both hands. “I think you would be good for him,” 

Rey stood motionless, completely dumbfounded. _Where had that come from?_ She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but not a sound came out. 

“Now,” Leia started, pausing with a knowing look in her eye like she knew Rey needed a moment to process. 

Sometimes Rey thought that Leia could see right through her. She had a mischievous glint that often flashed in her eyes while she spoke with Rey and it felt to her like Leia knew exactly what she was thinking when she was thinking it. Rey had had an affinity for Leia from the very first day Luke had brought Rey to her office, and Rey was content that the feeling was mutual. Their easy bond, it had never unsettled Rey, not until this very moment. 

“Sit down,” Leia insisted, her voice volumes lighter than before. “You’re not in trouble. I wanted to hear how the case was coming along,” 

Rey let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding and focused herself back into the room. She took a seat in front of Leia’s desk and found herself feeling guilty that she hadn’t done a better job of keeping Leia in the loop. “I won’t get into all of the details,” she said, sweeping her eyes suspiciously around the room, and settling them briefly on the door, where she was sure Hux hadn’t strayed far from.

Leia gave her an acknowledging nod and gestured for her to continue. “Tell me what you can,”

“The email address was a dead end, but I found the building where the photographer took those photographs, and I am working on a couple of leads to identify them.” Rey summarised, realising now she said it aloud, that she wasn’t as close to finding Leia her resolution as she had hoped. “I’m sorry I’m not any further forward with this Leia. It’s been difficult juggling the investigation and work with the launch coming up,” 

“That’s precisely why I called you up here. The deadline is fast approaching and I want you to focus all of your attention on this instead of work,” 

“What?” 

“I want you to take some time off. A week at first, but Rey, if you need more time, you can take it.” Leia looked at her as though she was ready to wrangle Rey out by force. “God knows, you never take time off voluntarily,” she muttered under her breath, but Rey heard her and had to try hard not to roll her eyes at her. 

“Leia,” Hesitance coated her thoughts. “The tech launch is in two weeks. There’s no way I can take time off right now. I can’t abandon my team,” Being able to focus solely on the case would mean that Rey would be able to really sink her teeth into it, and potentially work this out with time to spare. On the other hand, with the launch so close, there was no way she could take time off. 

“Rey, they’ll be fine,” Leia said, trying to reassure her. “Luckily, they were trained by one of the best,” Leia raised her eyebrows and gave Rey a pointed look. 

Rey couldn’t help but give her an ambivalent smile. 

“The place won’t fall apart without you, but if it does, I’ll have you back here in a heartbeat,”

Leia was trying to placate her, Rey knew she was, but there was still a nervousness gathering in her stomach. A nagging doubt in her mind. “Are you sure?” Rey asked meekly. 

“There are more important things than work, Rey.” A solemnity fell over her, and her usual sassy demeanour began to shrivel away before Rey’s eyes. “I haven’t always been as good a Mom to Ben as I should, not always been there for him when I should, but not anymore. If I need to delay the launch, I’ll delay the launch. Simple as that.” She sighed. “This is the only way he’ll let me help, so I’m going to make sure that my help, that _your help_ , is good enough,” 

Rey knew it wasn’t as simple as that, but the sentiment, the conviction behind Leia’s words, it made Rey’s chest ache. Leia was a mamma bear desperately trying to protect her cub, and Rey would facilitate her as best she could. “Okay,” She said with a renewed determination. “I’ll sort some things out for the press release and I’ll make sure my team know what they are doing for the next week,” 

“Thank you, Rey.” 

_Don’t thank me yet._ Rey merely nodded at her as she stood and headed for the door. 

“Rey,” Leia called after her. “I meant what I said earlier,” 

Rey turned back round to Leia, confused, her hand poised on the door handle. 

“I think you would be good for him,” 

It was only when Rey began to turn back to Leia’s door that she noticed a newspaper lying on her desk, open at Kylo’s article. Giving Leia a shy smile, she left her office and headed to the elevator, ignoring the curious daggers Hux sent hurtling her way.

Rey returned to her office floor feeling odd - she didn’t entirely trust that her mind hadn’t made up her conversation with Leia. As she went to the breakroom to make a cup of tea, she felt her mobile ringing in her pocket. 

“Luke? Hi,” 

“Meet me in our place in twenty minutes,” Luke said in a gruff, impatient voice before hanging up on her. 

“Hello to you too,” Rey said sarcastically as she put her phone back in her pocket. She let out a huff as she walked back to her office to collect her bag and jacket. “Rose, I’m taking an early lunch, in case anyone asks,”

Rose, who was on the phone, placed both of her hands over the transmitter and held the handset away from her ear. “Everything okay?” she asked, assessing her. 

“It will be after a cappuccino and a big ass piece of cake,” Rey smirked at her friend as she started to walk away. “I’ll bring you back a mocha,” she uttered over her shoulder and grinned brighter when she saw Rose mouth a thank you before replacing the phone to her ear.

* * *

Rey sat on a secluded bench in a park twenty minutes away from her office. Luke had found it not long after he had brought Rey here, it was situated off an overgrown walkway and was in a part of the park that very few people ventured. In the beginning, Luke had insisted that they meet here so that he could check in on Rey and discuss anything pertaining to Kira and Palpatine’s men. He had been her handler then, but somewhere along the way, he had become her friend and the closest thing to family she had in those first few years. They barely met here now, opting instead to go out for dinner when he was in town, but Rey still visited it. It was a little slice of calm that she often needed. 

She heard rustling coming from her right and knew that Luke would appear at any moment.

“Here,” he said, thrusting a coffee cup at her as he approached the bench.

“Thanks,” 

Luke didn’t sit down next to her, in fact, he barely spared her a glance as he paced back-and-forth in front of her. His agitation made Rey worry.

“What’s going on?” Rey took a quick sip of her coffee before she placed it down on the bench beside her. “Is it Palpatine?”

Luke chuckled sardonically and mumbled ‘is it Palpatine’ under his breath. “What exactly is your relationship with my nephew?” 

Rey stood, caught by surprise. “He’s a client,”

“A client. That’s what you’re going with, is it?” He took a newspaper out of his jacket pocket, unfolded it and held it up to her. “ _This_ is how you interact with your clients?” 

Rey was confronted with the fury in Luke’s eyes as well as the pictures that had haunted her all day. “That’s not what it looks like,”

“How could you be so careless, Rey?!” He raged. “This is a national paper,”

“I-”

“And don’t even get me started on the fact that your face is plastered all over the internet,” Luke lowered the newspaper as he turned away from her briefly, before whipping back around with thunder in his eyes. “Need I remind you that we didn’t catch all of Palpatine’s men? That at least two - that we know of - went into hiding not long after he was arrested?”

Rey opened her mouth to respond, but Luke didn’t give her a chance. 

“You don’t think that they are looking for the snitch that upended their entire operation?” 

“There wasn’t meant to be cameras inside, it was meant to be a private function,” It was an excuse, a poor one, but it was all she could muster.

Luke shook his head. “As long as you’re with Kylo Ren there is no such thing as a private function. He’s a celebrity, a bloody household name. He has eyes on him everywhere he goes crazed fans who think they are entitled to capture and question every part of his life. And right now they are all asking who this mystery brown-haired woman is,” he held up the paper again to emphasise the headline. “What if they do some digging, what if they find out your name or where you work? What if they leak that information and it gives Palpatine’s goons a direct pathway to you? What happens then?” Luke hadn’t been shouting, but she could feel the venom behind his words, and it cut through her like a knife. “Do you have any idea the danger you’ve put yourself in by associating with him?” 

“He is in trouble,” Rey exclaimed, finally finding her voice. “He is in trouble and Leia hired me to help him. That’s what I was doing at the awards night. I was working the case.” She took a moment to let his anger and disappointment permeate through her and used it to fuel the fire that had slowly been building within her. “We both knew this day might come, Luke. If they wanted to find me, they would find me, with or without the help of paparazzi,” she said, snatching the newspaper out of his hand. “As for these photos, my features are barely discernible, there is no way that they could tell it is me,” 

“You may have changed your name and your hair, but there is no hiding who you are, Kira.” 

“Don’t call me that,” Rey snapped. 

“It’s your name, isn’t it? Or at least it’ll be the one on your gravestone when they kill you,” 

“Stop! Just stop.” She exclaimed, throwing the newspaper to the ground. Rey knew deep down that beneath his fury, Luke was worried for her. Worried that her mistake might come at a deadly cost, but she promised herself long ago that she would stop living in fear. “Leia asked for my help. Kylo- _Ben_ needs my help, Luke. I’m not going to walk away from him because of a minute possibility that my past is going to catch up with me,” 

“You would risk everything for him?”

It was at that moment that she realised she would. “He needs me,”

“Whatever is going on between you and Ben, it ends _now_.” Luke’s voice dripped with disdain, with disapproval, with a bitterness that seemed to stem from something more profound than Rey photographed with Kylo in a paper. 

Rey started to protest, but Luke silenced her with one manic look. He stepped forward pointing a finger at her angrily. 

“If you want to keep living here. If you want to keep being Rey, you’ll stay away from him. Do you hear me?” 

All she could do was nod. Tears pricked at her eyes as Luke stormed away from her and into the overgrowth. Rey wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to hold herself together as she sat numbly on the bench and looked out at the afternoon sky. Rey had let her two lives collide, and she was stupid to think that there wouldn’t be consequences. If Palpatine’s men had seen those photographs, if they were looking for her, she had just put herself and her life here in danger. She had put Kylo in danger. But what worried her the most was her confidence in the knowledge that if she didn’t comply, Luke would tear her life away from her just as mercilessly as Palpatine’s goons would. 

Her burner phone rang in her pocket and Rey stared at the I.D. as she took it out. Ben Solo. She was instantly transported back to the night before, seconds after he had kissed her. ‘ _I’ll call you tomorrow’_. Rey watched as it rang and rang, her chest sinking deeper each time it did. 

* * *

“Okay, spill it,” 

Rey had been so engrossed in her paperwork, that she hadn’t heard Poe come in. “Spill what?” She asked, laying her pen down on the table. 

“Whatever it is that has had you locked in your office for the past day and a half,” He raised his eyebrows at her, a stern expression on his face which told Rey not to bother trying to deny anything. 

She let out a heavy sigh. “Rose phoned you,”

“She did. Are you going to tell me what’s happening?” 

Rey had wanted to bring Poe into the loop from the beginning, for his help and her sanity, but she had stopped herself, and now she knew the stakes, she was glad that she had. “There’s no chance you’ll be content with me telling you I’m just busy with work?”

“Nope,” He said, sending her a warning glare. 

“Didn’t think so,” Rey ran her hands through her hair and settled them on her neck as she rested her elbows on her desk. 

“Rey,” Poe looked at her expectantly, his features awash with an unsettling mixture of impatience and worry. 

“Do you remember when I told you that I was doing a favour for Leia?” 

Poe nodded slowly. “I also remember you saying you couldn’t tell me anything about it,” 

“Well,” Rey straightened up and sat back in her desk chair. She was swept within a cloud of consternation as she considered where to begin. “That favour was to help someone who had a problem…” 

“Okay,” Poe sat down, observing Rey. 

“...a _big_ problem.” She clarified. “So I’ve been doing what I can to help, after work and at weekends,”

“That’s why we haven’t seen much of you in the last week…”

“Yes,” Rey nodded solemnly, suddenly reminded of how few times she had hung out with Poe, Rose and Finn lately.

“...but what changed?” Poe asked. “You seemed fine, a little stressed and a little tired, but otherwise fine,”

“I think I have inadvertently made the problem worse,” Rey admitted. 

“What do you mean?” His eyebrows furrowed, concern deepening the worry lines on his forehead.

“The person I’m supposed to be helping. The person I’m meant to be _protecting_... I think I’ve put them in danger. And I know that the best thing to do would be to walk away from it, from everything, but I can’t. I’ve let myself get too invested and now…” Rey trailed off, looking away from Poe as tears pricked at her eyes. 

Talking about what was going on in these simplistic terms was both a help and a hindrance. She knew that Poe wouldn’t be able to give her any real advice, but voicing the thoughts that had been plaguing her felt freeing. Rey knew that to protect the small family she had made here and to protect Kylo from the dangers of her past, she needed to leave. But Rey had let herself plant roots here, she had let herself find a family, a career, a life and she didn’t want to let it go. It was selfish; she knew and thus lay her dilemma. 

Poe stood from where he sat and walked around to her side of the desk, opening his arms wide for her. “Come here,”

“I don’t know what to do,” Rey confessed as she walked into his embrace. Poe immediately engulfed her, rubbing circles on her back to soothe her and she had to admit, it was the calmest she had felt since her conversation with Luke.

“Whatever is going on Rey, we will get through it together.” Poe was so unwaveringly supportive that it made Rey want to cry. “I promise I will help however I can just tell me what I can do,”

“I appreciate that, Poe. I do.” For the life of her, she couldn’t think about what he could do to help. “I thought I had left the past behind, but it seems insistent on haunting me,” 

“Ah, your elusive past...you know I’m never gonna stop guessing why you moved here, right?”

“I know,” It was part of why she loved Poe so much. Every so often and completely out-of-the-blue, he would hit her with a new ridiculous and completely outlandish theory. Her favourites so far had been that she was a former child pop star who had been caught up in an internet scandal involving drugs and a toy tyrannosaurus rex, or that she was the one who ‘let the dogs out’. 

“I’ve got it! You are a disgraced clown and the circus are coming to exact their revenge on you,”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh, and Poe sniggered with her. “You’re closer than you think, you know,” she mused. 

“Hey,” Poe said as he stroked her hair, suddenly turning serious again. “The worst thing you could do is to think that you’re alone in this because you’re not. We’re here for you, Rey. Always,”

Rey held Poe that bit tighter and gave him a grateful squeeze, which he reciprocated with vigour. She hadn’t known how badly she needed someone in her corner until Poe had insisted she tell him what was going on. He had a knack for making her feel better, of reminding her that she didn’t need to be solely self-reliant anymore - she had a support system that would break their backs to help her if they could. Even though Rey couldn’t divulge the details and have an open conversation about what was going on, Poe holding her like this and telling her she wasn’t alone, that was enough to ease some of the tension that had been suffocating her for the past day and a half.

From the doorway, someone cleared their throat. Rey slowly lifted her head from Poe’s chest and looked up to see Kylo standing there, an unreadable expression carved onto his robust features.

“Kylo? What are you-” Rey found herself quickly disentangling from Poe. 

“You haven’t been answering my calls,” Kylo said through pursed lips.

“I’ve been busy,” Rey asserted, acutely aware of Poe shifting beside her. She didn’t need to see him to be confident that he was cocking his head, trying to gauge the nature of Rey and Kylo’s relationship. 

“Busy,” Kylo scoffed under his breath. “I’m sure you have,” 

Rey glowered at him. It was true, she hadn’t been answering his calls. In fact, Rey had sat and watched as her burner phone rang and rang and rang. ‘Ben Solo’ had phoned her three times since Thursday afternoon, and each time filled her with more guilt than she knew what to do with. 

When Rey had returned to her office yesterday afternoon, she had been a wreck. After Luke had stormed away from her, she sat on the bench and gave herself time to wallow in the weight of her reality, to mindlessly pour over potential scenarios, each more unsettling than the last. It had taken her twenty minutes to compose herself before she walked back into work, handed Rose her mocha and told her she wasn’t to be disturbed for the rest of the day. Rey had buried herself in paperwork, in plans for upcoming press releases and focus groups and in creating resources for her team to use in her absence. She did anything and everything to stop herself from answering the phone because Rey knew what she would need to do if she did, and she really didn’t want to. 

Rey was readying herself to retort to Kylo with a dismissiveness equally as cutting when she saw him directing a scrutinous glare at Poe, who coughed pointedly towards Rey. 

“Oh, right. Poe, this is Kylo Ren. Kylo, this is Poe Dameron,” She glanced round to Poe and watched as he raised his eyebrows at her with narrowed eyes, it was a gesture that Rey had come to understand meant ‘you good?’. Rey gave him an imperceptible nod and he replied with a small smile before he focused his attention on the brooding figure hovering in the doorway.

“Kylo Ren?” Poe walked over to Kylo with an outstretched hand and a look of childish bewilderment. “ _The_ Kylo Ren?” Kylo took his hand and shook it warily, glancing discreetly between Poe and Rey. “From the Galaxy Wars movies?” 

“Not the time, Poe.” Rey declared under her breath. 

“Right, yeah. Sorry,” Poe cleared his throat and let go of Kylo’s hand. Rey could tell he was trying to dispel the excitement that had reared its head. “Nice to meet you.” Nodding to Kylo as he passed him. “I’ll phone you later, Rey.” 

Rey and Kylo both watched as Poe sheepishly left the room, an uneasy air wafting its way into her office in his place. 

“If you keep turning up at my office, people are going to talk,” Rey said distractedly from behind her desk as she shuffled some papers around.

“Let them,”

Their eyes met. Rey could feel that piece of string in her chest tugging her towards him, and she dismissed it, opting to break their eye contact and focus on some phone messages Rose had left on her desk earlier. 

“You’ve been ignoring me,” Kylo said plainly. 

Rey let her eyes rest on him warily. “No-”

“Yes, you have.” 

“I told you, I’ve been busy,” Rey affirmed in a detached tone, as her fingers played with the notes in her hand. “Your mother wants me to take time off to focus on your case, and I have a lot of things to sort out before I leave tonight,”

Kylo considered her for a long moment and Rey found herself standing taller under his scrutiny, holding her resolve as she readied herself to say the words she had been rehearsing in her head.

“Look, it’s good you came by, actually. I wanted to talk to you,” Rey said, walking around her desk towards him and adopting her managerial persona.

“Okay…” He muttered, seeming unsure. 

“I think that from now on, it would be best if me and my team work on your case alone,”

“What are you talking about?”

“You and Leia wanted this handled with discretion, well I can’t do that if my picture is plastered over every newspaper and gossip site in the country,”

“ _That’s_ what this is about? Really?” Scepticism dripped off of every word.

“Of course it is,”

“So, it has nothing to do with the fact that we kissed the other night?” He strode towards her but stopped when Rey backed away from him. 

“No,” Rey replied quickly. Too quickly. She wasn’t convincing herself, let alone Kylo. “I just think it would be better from now on if we kept our distance. Finn can phone you with any updates or questions about your case,”

“This is bullshit,” he uttered with an exasperated sigh, screwing up his eyes while he pinched the bridge of his nose. Rey could sense he was trying to reign in his anger, to block out the hurt that had flashed through his dark eyes and she wished she could explain it all away, but that would require unearthing too much of herself. “I thought we were past this, Rey,” he said with vexation. His eyes opened again and focused intently on hers.

“Past what?” Rey’s eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“The pretence,” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“You know _exactly_ what I’m talking about,” Kylo had lowered his voice to a whisper, yet the deep, fervent timbre of his voice seemed to reverberate through her. He stalked towards her again, except this time Rey stood her ground and kept her gaze fixed on him as he stopped mere inches from her. “I see the way you look at me, Rey,” 

Rey felt her breath catch in her throat as his eyes shifted down her face to linger on her lips and then to each side of her neck. She could see his hunger, could sense exactly what he wanted to do to her at that moment and it both unnerved and excited her. 

“I know how much you want me,” Kylo’s hands were hovering at her sides, poised to touch her, to roam over her.

“Yes, I’m attracted to you,” She started and leant back, only for her backside to connect with the edge of her desk. “But that doesn’t mean that anything is going to happen,”

“Something has already happened!” He blazed. “Or are you going to keep denying that Friday happened? Or the kiss on awards night? Or the fact that you’ve wanted me since the day we met in that conference room,” 

“That’s not tr-”

“Yes, it is.” Kylo nodded his head in earnest. “There is something between us, Rey. I know you can feel it.” Kylo stepped towards her, his knees bumping hers, his voice a deep rumble. “I feel it too,” 

Rey let out a gasp as Kylo grasped her waist with his large hands and swallowed as he began to slowly trace down the length of her body, before settling on her thighs. She couldn’t speak. All words had left her. The only thing she could focus on was the way he was staring down at her with such intensity. Such hunger. Such fire. He squeezed her thighs before cupping around them and lifted her so she sat on her desk. Kylo let his right hand trail back up her body, across her collarbone, along her throat and up to trace around her lips. Rey’s eyes closed as his finger tickled the outer edge of her mouth, causing her body to shudder involuntarily. She couldn’t help but smirk as she felt his fingers pulling at her bottom lip before he grasped a hand around her throat possessively. Kylo’s eyes darkened as he watched the corner of her mouth lift, a small, raspy groan escaping him before he bent down to capture her lips with his. It was a punishing kiss which sent electricity shooting around her body and straight down to her core. Rey opened her mouth to deepen it and caught hold of his black t-shirt in her hands, pulling him closer to her as their tongues collided. She could feel his frustration from earlier in this kiss, the hurt, the anger and suddenly, her mind reminded her why he had been angry in the first place.

 _What am I doing?_ It was like cold water had been poured over her. The weight of the turmoil from the past couple of days fell back onto her shoulders, and she realised that, once again, she had let her attraction to Kylo cloud her senses. “No, Kylo. Stop,” she said hoarsely, breaking their kiss. Rey let go of his t-shirt and pushed gently on his chest, which did nothing to move his solid frame from between her legs. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked breathlessly, his eyebrows furrowed. 

“I can’t. _We_ can’t,” Rey pushed again at Kylo’s chest and this time he stepped away from her, giving her space. She got down from the desk and walked over by her office door, needing to create as much distance between them as possible. 

“Why not?” Kylo asked, and she could hear him following behind her. 

Rey said nothing. She couldn’t trust herself, so she kept her back to him and her eyes on her office door, wishing she could just open it and walk away from him. 

“Rey,” He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. It was a touch so soft she felt herself longing to melt into it. “Look at me,” 

Kylo moved his hand to cup her chin, encouraging her to turn to him, and she did. “What’s going on?” He asked with a look of genuine concern. 

“I can’t tell you,” She finally replied, silently pleading with him to trust her and to leave it alone, because she knew if he pushed her on it, she would tell him everything. 

Kylo brooded for a moment, his fingers still holding onto her chin as he delved deep into her hazel eyes. Rey watched as his pupils constricted and dilated, and she wished she could see what was going on behind them. He had his own inner conflict, she had seen it on Friday, and on the balcony. And yet today, it was like he had chosen to ignore whatever it was that had held him back before. 

“Do you want me, Rey?” He asked after a moment, catching her by surprise. His low voice and earnest eyes only adding to her confusion.

“I-I-”

“Don’t think about whatever it is that is holding you back,” Kylo moved his hands to cup either side of her face and Rey was struck by the ease that began to spread throughout her body from the feel of his skin on hers. “Right here, right now. Do you want me?” 

Rey did as he said, she ignored all of the reasons why she shouldn’t. She ignored the blackmail, she ignored the photographs, she ignored Luke’s threat, she ignored her past, she ignored the logical voice in her head and gave him a small, determined nod. “Yes,” 

“Then nothing else matters,” he affirmed before kissing her fiercely. 

They clung to each other, their mouths locked in a passionate embrace. Kylo’s hands had moved to her lower back, clutching her body tightly to him, so tight that Rey could feel his arousal. She reached out a hand to the door handle of her office and turned the lock, needing to be confident in the fact that nothing and no-one would interrupt what was about to happen. On her tiptoes, Rey reached up to intertwine her fingers with the hair at the nape of his neck and she moaned deeply into his mouth as he picked her up in one effortless movement and wrapped her legs around his waist. Somehow, their bodies were even closer now than they had been before and Rey revelled in the feeling of her breasts against his hard chest. Holding her up with one arm, he walked them over to the wall nearest the door, propping her against it between two bookcases as his left hand pulled at her pencil skirt. He tugged impatiently at the hem, not breaking their kiss until he had successfully pulled her skirt up around her waist. 

“Unbutton your blouse,” 

Rey did as she was told, undoing her buttons one by one in tantalising succession. She took a moment to take in his darkened eyes and the way he’d captured his bottom lip between his teeth as he watched her. His hunger was palpable, and her need to consume every inch of him was overwhelming. 

“You like it when I tell you what to do, don’t you, Rey?” He said, resting his forehead on hers, as his nimble fingers ghosted over the skin of her breasts. There was a predatory edge to his voice. An edge which had Rey breathing that bit heavier. An edge which made her long to feel him inside of her. 

Rey nodded salaciously, her desire for him aching between her thighs. 

Kylo set Rey on her feet and yanked at her black, lacy briefs. “Get rid of them,” He commanded with a harsh breath. His eyes held hers with a vice-like grip as Rey pulled down her underwear and flicked them to the side with the toe of her high heeled boot. As he unbuckled his belt, Rey couldn’t help but let out a small moan of anticipation as Kylo let his bulging penis escape through the zipper of his jeans. Her first sexual fantasy of him had been in this very room, and now it was quickly becoming her reality, she couldn’t contain the urges that had been brewing within her since the day they met. Rey grabbed a fistful of his grey t-shirt and pulled him into a fiery kiss. They clumsily roamed their hands over each other's bodies, not bothering to slow down and savour the moment - their need for each other vastly outweighed any expectation they had for their first time together. After a moment, Kylo grabbed one of her wrists in each hand and pinned them against the wall, high above her head. 

“Keep them there,” he instructed as he let go of her wrists. Kylo nudged Rey’s legs further apart with his foot and then took a second to run his eyes over her chest before his hands pulled her breasts free from her bra. He ensnared them in his large hands, kneading them as he began to kiss along her jaw and down her neck. Rey let out a whimper as he reached the sensitive spot beneath her earlobe and she could feel him smile against her skin as he began to suck at it, sending waves of pleasure to her core. Circling her hardening nipples with his calloused fingers, Kylo kissed and sucked his way down to her breasts.

“Oh God,” Rey’s head fell back as Kylo slid his tongue around one of her erect nipples, teasing the tip of it before he sucked at it. He sucked her nipple as though it was an ice lolly on a warm summer’s day, and let out a hum of enjoyment which made her crumble. 

“Now,” Kylo said as he straightened up, his hands caressing slowly down her body, lingering on her waist, her hips, her ass, her thighs. “Let’s see if you’re ready for me,” 

Rey shuddered as Kylo ran a hand up her inner thigh and she drew in a shaky breath as he traced along her slit and up to her sex. Kylo knew the effect he had on her, knew how to toy with her, knew how to make her desperate for him. It was written in the look of longing which currently inhabited his lustful eyes. He traced along her slit again and again, his fingers slipping effortlessly between her slick folds and Rey found herself ready to plead with him to make her cum. 

As if reading her mind, he wrapped a hand around her throat and with his mouth a hair-width away from her ear, whispered. “What do you want, Rey?” 

In her second’s hesitation, he thrust a burly finger inside of her. He was gliding it in and out of her. In and out. Slow, unyielding. Torturous. Rey found she could barely form words. “You,” she panted, her mouth dry and her voice hoarse as he slid another finger inside of her. 

“Say it,” he urged her. 

“I want you,” It was like she had flipped a switch, because the moment she uttered those words, he kissed her so fiercely and pumped so quickly inside of her, she was sure she was going to come undone right there and then. But she didn’t want to, not like this. She needed to feel him inside of her, needed to feel him lose control. “Fuck me, Kylo,” Rey panted out. “Fuck me.” 

A growl escaped his plush lips at her plea, and he nibbled at her earlobe as he pulled his fingers from her. Rey’s arms were beginning to go numb, and she let them gradually slide down the wall as Kylo sucked her juices off of his fingers. “You’re delicious, Rey,” he asserted before he traced up and down her arms. He led her arms down to lay on his shoulders before he let go of her hands and whisked Rey up again, so her legs wrapped around his waist, her weight braced against the wall behind her. Kylo grasped her behind roughly in his hands, and Rey gulped as she felt her yearning vagina opening at the movement. He moved her back and forth, so his tip rubbed along her slit.

“Mmmm,” Rey moaned, her loins burning with desire.

Reluctantly, he stopped himself from entering her, the tip of his penis still hovering at her opening, a frustrated sigh escaping him. “Condom?” He asked with breathy exasperation, his head resting on her chest.

Rey shook her head fervently, pulling at his hair to get his attention. “No, I’m on contraception,” She said with a smirk as Kylo lifted his head, a dangerous grin spreading slowly across his handsome face. He lowered her slowly onto his waiting penis, and she gasped at the intrusion. 

Kylo gave Rey a moment to adjust to him, and Rey basked in the feel of her stretching around him. He moved in and out of her slowly. “What do you want, Rey?” He asked again in a grunt. 

“I want you to fuck me,” 

Kylo slid in and out of her slowly, incrementally increasing his speed, grunting as he did. 

Rey held onto his shoulders and could feel how hard he was fighting to keep his strength under control. But she didn’t want him to restrain himself. She wanted him to pound into her, to let himself go. Rey began to kiss up Kylo’s neck and began to nibble on his earlobe as he thrust into her. “Harder,” she purred into his ear. 

Something not unlike a growl escaped his lips and he tightened his grip on her ass as he thrust harder into her. But it wasn’t enough. He was still holding back. 

“Harder, Kylo,” she demanded, her voice thick. 

He let out a groan of frustration as he rammed her harder against the wall, throwing a hand on the wall by her head to balance himself. 

“Yes, just like that,” Rey moaned, grabbing on to the bookcase for purchase. She could feel the force of his strength as he ploughed deep inside of her, it was thrilling and with each thrust, she felt the pressure inside of her build and build. Sensing her pleasure, Kylo began to drive into her unabashedly, his pace quickening to dizzying heights. She welcomed the sound of slapping as his body connected fiercely with hers. Rey’s body jolted up and down against the wall as he slammed into her, and she could hear books falling from the bookcase as it moved along with her writhing body. 

“Touch yourself, Rey,” Kylo asked, his voice deep and sultry. 

Rey moved a hand down between them to touch her clitoris and gasped as her fingers began to gyrate around her core. Kylo grunted in her ear, spurring her on further and her body began to feel like it was on fire. With Kylo’s unabated thrusts and the sensations that she was eliciting from her clit, it was all becoming too much for her. 

“I’m close. I’m so close,” Rey moaned, quickening her pace as she felt the tension inside of her ready to combust. 

“Stop” He commanded, and reluctantly, she pulled her fingers away from her sex, panting heavily, desperate for release. 

Kylo slid out of her, much to her chagrin, his hungry eyes swallowing in every facet of her face. “I’m not ready for you to come just yet,” he announced with a wicked smile before he kissed her. Kylo carried her over to her desk in three long strides, holding her up with one arm as he swiped everything but her computer screen on to the floor, before laying her down on the desk. Sweat slicked at her brow and down her back, but Rey couldn’t find it in herself to care as Kylo pushed into her again. His writhing cock filled her so completely that each thrust caused an intense ripple of sensations within her, and she was sure she would never grow tired of feeling him inside of her. Their bodies were in sync, moving wordlessly as one, rhythmically in tune with the others' needs. Right now, it was desperate. Frantic, even. An accumulation of the tension that had steadily been building between them since the day they met. And yet, it also felt like poetry. Rey clenched her hands around the edges of her desk, bracing herself, while Kylo grasped roughly at her breasts as he ploughed into her at a punishing pace. As the intensity of her climax grew closer and closer, Rey’s moans became louder and more carefree. Kylo, while still pumping into her, closed her legs together, holding them both in one hand before he balanced them on his left shoulder. He reached down to put a hand over her mouth, Rey’s behind raising ever so slightly with the extension. 

“You don’t want them to hear you, do you?” 

In this new position, his cock thrusted deeper inside of her, hitting the spot that so few men had managed to hit before, and it sent her careening over the edge. Her eyes rolled back into her head as her lower body spasmed uncontrollably with release, her cries of ecstasy muffled between his fingers. Rey’s insides clenched around him as she rode through her orgasm. 

“Fuck, Rey,” He said hoarsely as he sucked in a heavy breath. It took only five deep, hard thrusts into her before his head fell back and he emptied himself inside of her. 

Kylo rested his head against her legs as he pulled himself slowly out of her. They were each panting heavily, their eyes locked on one another. Rey watched as Kylo took both her ankles in one of his hands, lifting them from his place on her shoulder, keeping them up in the air as he leant down for something. Seconds later, he appeared with a tissue which must have come from the discarded box that usually sat atop her desk, and used it to wipe away the cum that Rey could feel oozing out of her. Kylo smirked a crooked smirk as his fingers grazed her still sensitive clitoris, inducing a shudder from Rey. When he was done, he let go of her ankles and stepped away to get rid of the tissue after he had cleaned himself. 

Rey let her limbs fall as exhaustion took over her. She tried to control her breathing as she watched Kylo walk to the side of the desk and sit down on the floor beside her. He reached for her arm and took her hand in his before chastely kissing her knuckles. 

“That was…” Rey’s sex addled brain could barely form words.

“Yeah...it was.” Kylo husked out, leaning his head back against her desk, holding Rey’s arm to his chest. 

Rey wasn’t sure how long they sat there like that. She wasn’t sure how long it took her breathing to settle or how long Kylo had been leaving soft kisses up and down her arm. What she did know was that they had to get up, they had to sort out the disarray of her office and when they did, their sex bubble would burst. Reality would come hurtling in like an intruder, violating their memories and robbing them of their ecstasy. 

She sat up, assessing the office and Kylo tugged on her arm in protest. They hadn’t made as much mess as she thought, although the contents of her desk now scattered on the floor and some books and files had fallen from the bookcase next to where Kylo had rammed her up against the wall. Rey was prepping herself to stand up from the desk when she heard the handle of her door rattling over and over. Someone was trying to get in. Thank god she’d had the foresight to lock it earlier. 

“Rey?” It was Rose. 

“Shit!” Rey cursed under her breath. Panicked, she yanked her skirt back down and struggled to close up the buttons on her blouse. Kylo had jumped up to pull on his trousers and was surveying the room with a smug smile on his face.

“Rey?” More rattling.

“Just a minute, Rose,” Rey yelled as she scrambled to replace the contents of her desk. “Where is my underwear?” Rey whispered to Kylo, who was picking up the books and files on the floor by the door. He looked around and just as Rey was unlocking and opening the door, held her black, lace briefs up in the air triumphantly. “Hi, sorry, I was in a meeting,” 

Rose stood with narrowed eyes, trying her best to see into the office through the small gap Rey had allowed between the door and its frame. She was eyeing Rey with suspicion, cocking her head to the side she scrutinised Rey so thoroughly, that Rey was sure she knew what had just transpired in her office. “You have a phone call on line two,” 

“Thanks, I’ll take that now,” Rey made to close the door but was stopped by a large hand holding it open. 

“Thank you, Rey. That was incredibly _enlightening_.” 

Rey had to put a hand over her mouth to stop the smirk that was fighting its way onto her face. Rose, meanwhile, was making no effort to disguise the way she looked between Kylo and Rey inquisitively before landing a pair of wide, understanding eyes on Rey. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Rey,” He flashed her a broad, mischievous grin before he brushed past her. His fingers grazed the curve of her ass as he did, and he made no effort to hide the black lace that stuck out the back pocket of his jeans.

_Oh, I’m in trouble._

Rey walked back to her desk and quickly picked up her receiver before Rose could say a thing. “Rey Niima speaking,”

“It was so nice to meet you the other night, Rey.” A low, distorted voice came crackling through Rey’s phone. “I see why Kylo likes having you around,” 

“Who is this?” Rey asked in what she hoped was a neutral tone. Rose, whose head had been in her mobile phone, snapped up to look at Rey with concern. Rey scrambled for a pen and scribbled messily in the notebook on her desk ‘GET FINN’ and held it up to Rose, who immediately dashed out of Rey’s office upon reading it. 

“Now, now. Where would the fun in that be?” The voice chuckled evilly. With the distortion, Rey couldn’t tell if she was talking to a man or a woman, but whoever they were, their chuckle made Rey’s skin crawl. 

Rey knew she needed to do her best to keep them on the phone until Finn got to her office. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to check in. To let you know how much I’ve enjoyed watching you and how I look forward to seeing _more_ of you in the future,” 

There was a lecherous tone to the voice, a tone which told her they were hoping to see a lot more than Rey and Kylo merely walking down the street. 

“Tell Kylo it’s his move,” And with a distorted snigger, the phone line went dead.


End file.
